


A Red Scarf and lots of Salty Water

by adam_anellaer



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: (in the begining), Anger, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Funny, Grief/Mourning, Interspecies Relationship(s), Mermaids, but it's not all sad!, it has funny moments!, mermaid!au, rainbow snowcone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-15
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-02-25 11:27:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 41,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2620115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adam_anellaer/pseuds/adam_anellaer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mermaid!AU* <br/>Toothiana shouldn't be so near the coast, but who could blame her? A curious nature and lots a free time with few surveillance from Rashmi, her Core-Sister, ends up in this kind of trouble! This time it was because of a red scarf (a color which she had never seen before)... and the depressed human boy who wore it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The curious mermaid

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second RS fic and I was inspired by some other Mermaid!AU. Then I did some fanart and this happened!  
> The link to this story's illustrations will be posted in the end, so if you want to take a look, feel free!
> 
> I don't own anything, of course. ;)  
> (I previously apologize for any error) 
> 
> Enjoy! :D

_There were these legends, about terrible sea creatures, that every man from the sea knew about. If they were more than mere stories, told to little children so they wouldn’t endanger themselves, that´s what he didn’t know. Many fishermen also enjoyed scaring passing travelers, with the hope that the mystery would retain them a little longer in that remote land._

_But one thing was certain: the sea had already taken enough lives to feed up the fertile imagination of many children, young and grown, including the one of a particular boy, who now hated those stories more than ever._

                                                                             

“              ”

I  


The body sliced through the water, leaving behind a trail of disturbed currents and confused fish.

She moved her fin as fast as her muscles could, feeling the powerful strikes it gave propelling her forward through the fluid environment.

She breathed steadily but with enthusiasm, the water getting in and out of her gills in a wonderful way.

She was almost there! In the middle of her exhilaration, she kept swirling and twirling in the currents, overexcited about the madness of her acts. But she couldn’t help it, the rebellion of her actions making her feel more free that ever.

She absorbed her surroundings, delighted with the color of the things up here. She was tired of the same deep blue. She wanted to know how it was here, where the sun seemed to kiss everything in its reach.

The light was different... Well, maybe it was because there was more of it!

Although, it didn’t seem to penetrate the water like it did in the high sea: losing its way towards the depths, the straight rays of sun diving bravery into the unknown.

Here, it had a goal, a surface to reach, to enlighten and warm up. Whatever it was an undulating seaweed meadow, a nude rock, or an exuberant coral reef, the sunlight gladly did its job, fueling life itself, instead of being doomed to disappear in the penumbra of the ocean.

Toothiana looked with awe, spreading her fingers as the sun played with the transparency of her interstitial membrane. The trembling disc winked at her, as if greeting her sudden visit. Her gills fluttered, small amounts of water going in and out her respiratory surfaces. It was her own way of laughing. She liked how it felt, the water seeming more… fluid up here. Sure it was due to the pressure.

Yes, her body was adapted to live down there, where the sun barely illuminated the seabed. So it was a long journey. Not in ways of distance, because she was surely a fast swimmer.

But it toke time for her to decompress, so she wouldn’t have any kind of problems for getting up here.

She opened her mouth and tasted the liquid. It was saltier too. Her buddy Mr. Sun up there took the water with him, leaving the salt behind.

It was how currents worked. The heat evaporated water, leaving the salt, who increased the density of the liquid, consequently making it heavier and sink to the cool depths of the ocean.

Toothiana made a spontaneous twirl, completely thrilled for witnessing this kind of phenomena instead of just learning about them at home. Overwhelmed by the excitement she gave a strong flick of tail, heading towards the bright disc, her mind not even picturing the consequences of the action.

She only realized what she was doing when her fin had suddenly nothing to push against. Her eyes widened, seeing all the droplets of water glimmering in the unrestricted sunlight.

The mermaid’s heartbeat exploded, a sudden wave of panic overwhelming her the second she tried to gasp and her branchiae seemed to catch fire instead. (Not that she knew what fire was, but the pain was still there.)

Once more, gravity reclaimed its rights over her form, obligating her to return to the water. Her eyes only caught a blur of color, before the cool fluid engulfed her.

Her sensation of relief, when the familiar liquid submerged her longing gills, was only surpassed by the primary urge to define what her pink irises had caught.

It was a color she had never seen and couldn’t find the words in her vast language to define. It was strong and bright, but contrasting the fresh hues of blue and green, it felt… warm. Yeah, it was it. Warm like the sun kissing her skin. Well, the sun was white but still, it was the feeling she got at the strange sight.

Her sisters always said that her insatiable curiosity would be her doom. And now, a part of her knew they were right.

The rising anticipation made her heart beat wildly again, as she slowly approached a slippery rock, becoming dangerously close to the beach. With one quick look over her shoulder, her eyes examined the vast blue behind her, checking if her unforgivable behavior was being witnessed by any other living organism.

With one last reassuring breath, Toothiana extended her fingertips, the skin brushing slightly the green slick algae.

And with that, her cautious instinct kicked in.

Almost instantly her skin color began to change, her usual combination of blues, greens and purples morphing into the dull grey of the partially emerged rock with areas of deep green, copying the organisms that lived on it. Now, only two pink irises showed her position.

She closed them and lifted herself, her arms hoisting her up in a salience on the rock. She made sure that her other group of gills, the ones which rested just below her ribs, remained underneath the line of water.

Head breaking the surface first, her head fins instantly felt the cool breeze dance between them. She decided to open her eyes, slowly, as if testing if that action would cause any physical pain. It was with delight that she concluded it didn’t.

Then her eyes wondered through the area before her. At first she was amazed at the range of vision. She could see perfectly all the way up to the mountain cliff that dove into the ocean, there, on the other side of the beach, about a mile away. There were also green covered hills that extended themselves into the sand, grass waving with the wind. It was breath taking. She could even distinguish a high peek, a mountain that seemed to caress the grey belly of the mantle of clouds that navigated the skies, coming towards the sea.

Her mouth hung open, as she saw… everything. In the ocean, her sight range wouldn’t let her take in all the immensity of a world like this. And the sea itself, it was, oh, so beautiful, extending all the way towards the horizon. The siren couldn’t be more marveled.

The sun was now covered with clouds, some rays of light emerging from open spots in the thick veil. But still, it was all so…

With such amazement before the beauty of the upper world, Toothiana could almost forget the reason that took her there in the first place.

_The warm color._

So she turned back to the land again, eyes avidly searching for the bright sight. The mermaid tried to get higher, so she could get a clear view of the beach, her arms impelling her form just above the rock.

Her gills tried to absorb all the oxygen from the water they could afford, just before closing skin against skin, as her body came almost completely out of water. Feeling the waves crash against her fin, she blinked a few droplets out of her long eyelashes.

Then her eyes caught it, the strong color, much closer than before. And what she saw afterwards, well, she thought, as her heart almost entered into cardiac arrest and she clumsily dove in the water… she imagined everything but that!

* * *

Early illustrations can be seen on [Tumblr ](http://adam-anellaer.tumblr.com/post/74822726231/character-studies-for-my-rs)or on [DA](http://adam-anellaer.deviantart.com/art/Mermaid-Tooth-422867571)


	2. The mourning boy

II

His bare feet kept walking, his nerves apparently unaware of the stony ground under them. The dark heavy cloak floated just above the soil, never really touching it.

The boy dressed in black didn’t even look back, when the resonant sound of bells reached his ears. He didn’t bother staying until the end of the ceremony.

What was the point, either way? There was nothing to say goodbye to…

He could already hear it, from a far. The anticipation of sight of the immense mass of water, just in the other side of the hill didn’t hurry him up. His heart was too heavy to be filled with his natural wonder and happiness.

So as it was, he couldn’t really see the beauty of the place, as he used to. Now, the grass-covered mountains that fell like steep cliffs into the tumultuous waters, seemed only walls, trapping him in this colorless place.

And now, through his equally tumultuous heart, in everything alike to the sea he grew up with, stemmed a great storm.

He kept his hand firmly clenched in a fist, close to his body, from his right one hanging a long crimson scarf.

He was sick of people telling him they were sorry and for him to be strong, he was sick of the ever grey sky, he was sick of…

The boy finally got to the top of the hill and was greeted with the familiar salty breeze. His lips curled into a pleased smile, crystal blue eyes absorbing the breath taking landscape before him. No, he would never grow sick of the wind, his good friend and oldest companion.

But his small smile disappeared just as fast.

Because, as his eyes landed on the vast mass of water, he felt only pain and anger. And although his people needed the sea as desperately as any fish would, he promised, right then and there, that he would _never_ forgive the ocean for what it did to him.

Jackson Overland Frost felt irremediably and utterly betrayed by one of his, he used to think, dearest friends.

His fists clenched even further, digging nails into his pale skin, teeth gritting with rage.

The wind played with his clothes and hair, oblivious to the boy’s fury. So, when the breeze inadvertently brought the scarlet cloth to his field of vision, it triggered a reaction inside Jack’s core that no one could stop now.

So he went down the hill, heading towards the one place that _used to_ make him feel better.

But now, the sound of the waves crashing in the sand, instead of playing the role of a relaxing factor, only seemed to fuel his rage. The sound kept echoing in his mind, as if mocking him. He felt his bare feet slightly sinking in the silty ground, as he marched towards the water.

And when the cool liquid engulfed his toes, he couldn’t hold it any longer.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU, SO YOU WOULD TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME!"

He started kicking the sand and the water, taking hands full of dirt and throwing it towards the waves.

"W-WHY, WHY WOULD YOU TAKE HER?" and he fell on his knees. His throat hurt, but his heart hurt the most.

"Why would you take her…?" he mumbled, defeated, eyes flooding themselves with long retained tears, anxious to get free. But one single tear licked his cheek to join the great mass of tears that came to comfort him.

"Please bring her back…" he begged, eyeing the red cloth in his lap, the tears dripping towards the clear liquid.

But suddenly, he heard a much louder splash, in the rocks just ahead.

His head instantly snap up, crystal blue eyes searching madly for what felt into the water.

It was almost without thinking that Jack got up, feet immediately running towards the group of exposed rocks. The boy couldn’t prevent the small flicker of hope from lightening itself inside him, fueling his legs, his lungs, his heart. The long scarf flew just behind him, swirling happily in the wind.

Jack jumped into the water, easily dodging and climbing the slippery rocks, just like he was so used to do, not for a minute caring for his wet formal cloths or for the bright scarf that lightly caressed the ocean.

He finally got behind the big rock from which the splashing sound came from, breathing heavily from the emotion.

 "Oh Em, I thought you wer-"

But he couldn’t finish his sentence, as he tried took in what his eyes showed him.

...

..

.

When her eyes caught sight of the vibrant color, her heart apparently stopped for an instant.

And it was funny, in a way, because all her face and chest splashed that same color she was so curious about. It was a color of danger, her morphing skin reflecting the threat her too nosy nature had put her into in the first place.

Because, you see, in its way towards the depths of the sea, light lost most of its colors, remaining only the highest radiations of blue. So the mermaid never had the opportunity to witness such warm hues.

And, as if it wasn’t already bad she swimming so near to land, she came across with the mere creature she ought to avoid!

She surely was in deep trouble.

So the mermaid instinctively tried to return to the water, the environment she should never had left in the first place. With the panic, her dive ended being rather clumsy, the weight of her fin causing a big splash in the waves. _Great!_

As if it wasn’t enough, the liquid was shallower than she had expected, ending with her powerfully hitting her head in one of the submerged rocks. Toothiana immediately brought a hand to her temple, groaning with the pain and dizziness it caused.

In the middle of the confusion, the increasing waves played with her dizzy self, taking no mercy in tumbling her form against the surrounding rocks. She groaned, when her back hit another sharp reef.

Her mind loudly screamed for her to run away, before the human caught sight of her.

The half-girl desperately flicked her tail, blindly swimming. She could hear the splash of steps right behind her, the reverberating sound spreading all the way until her ears, only increasing her disorientation.

She breathed heavily, gasping when the floating sediments entered her sensitive branchiae.

Her heart didn’t seem able to endure the panic any longer.

Why wasn’t the water getting deeper? Where was she going?

Toothiana tried to concentrate, to see something in the middle of her mad runaway. She seemed to snap awake, when she felt the rough sand under her belly.

Her eyes looked around, but she was surrounded by the cloud of floating sediments that her beating fin brought up. She released a high pitched scream that travelled through the water, resounding in the nearby denser surfaces, and echoing back to her acute hearing. With that, her specialized brain calculated the aspect of the area that imprisoned her.

When she realized where she was, her head immediately popped out of the water, as if she didn’t believe in what she heard.

But unfortunately it was true.

She hiccupped, eyeing desperately the walls that surrounded her in a small, shallow bay. The mermaid had merely a meter of water, and the tide kept retrieving.

Her only chance was to go back by the narrow passage.

She used her arms, not wanting to fill the water with sand once more, so she could breath painlessly.

And our dear Toothiana, our impossibly curious memaid, was almost escaping her sandy prison when she found her way out blocked by a tall from.

Pink eyes lifted slowly, until they reached a pale, pale face, only to encounter two blue irises, deep as the ocean itself, full with a strange mix of an empty confusion and a forming storm of anger, which presaged nothing good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And they meet! Please don't forget to review if you liked it ;D


	3. Attempt of Murder

III

The air got in and out of his lugs automatically, his heart beating wildly from everything he was going through: the sudden flame of hope that was rapidly extinguished by… _it_ ; his concept of what was real and what was not completely shattered!

A part of him wouldn’t believe it. It kept telling him it was the pain and the anger which had created such an illusion. And that he was being extremely stupid, for falling in such lies.

However his reasonable part, as persuasive as it could be sometimes, didn’t stop his heart from jumping in his chest, impelling him to go after whatever he though he saw.

And now, standing here in the narrow passage that led to the hidden bay, he stared at the devilish pink eyes before him, wide with realization: the creature was trapped.

But still, it was too much for him (too much for anyone really) to take in.

He didn’t remember when did he stopped believing those legends, or if he ever did! Maybe his mind was only too ashamed to admit that the grown up boy continued to believe in children’s stories.

Whatever the case was, the confirmation was right before him.

At first, he was stunned with her appearance. That was the easiest thing to evaluate in the moment! And it was nothing like he had expected.

He imagined them to look more… human-like. Perfect pale skin beauties with long enviable hair.

This… _thing_ , on the contrary, couldn’t be more alien! From its head rose some kind of fins, starting above her brow and growing towards the back of her skull, somewhat spiky at the end.  It had strange translucent hears too, and its neck was cloven in four rows of gills, that fluttered madly, like the creature was suffocating. And its skin, was like, full of scales, no, they weren’t scales, but he couldn’t properly distinguish.

But then, what kept his attention was those huge eyes, wide open, in the middle of its face. The bright pink irises seem to drag him in, making him almost forget all his anger, all his pain.

Jack shook his head, his brain trying to figure out what did this all mean, his reasoning madly jumping into conclusions. He felt dizzy, pictures running before his eyes, memories of the nights when the fisherman told stories by the fire. He could still hear their words, in voices as hoarse as the wind itself.

_“Cruel bests those are! Beautiful like angels, but with the most wicked hearts! They’ll penetrate your mind so deeply, that you will willingly follow them to infernal depths of the sea…”_

Suddenly, something inside him snapped, and his eyes got clear again.

If these creatures were real, then the stories he heard about them were real too. Legends about men who mysteriously disappeared in the se-

"WHERE DID YOU TAKE HER?" the boy barked, jumping towards the frightened creature who frantically tried to retreat. He didn’t even care with the not so remote possibility that the mermaid could not understand him. But who can judge someone blinded by hate.

The “thing” kept trying to dodge his ireful advances, the strong tail not helping at all in these shallow waters. It looked like it was suffocating, and in the panic she got stuck in the sand, just enough water for her to breathe through her lower gills.

Her eyes snapped with horror towards him, wide in fear, lips apart, hands clenching the sand underneath her with visible despair.

The female creature was trapped.

The panting boy kept some distance, just making sure that the “thing” couldn’t swim away. His blue eyes were full of hatred, towards that defenseless being before him.

Jack saw how it was getting problems with breathing, and an evil smirk began to twist his features, as he felt the water level substantially decrease. There was no escape.

"You took her!" he snarled, getting slightly closer, eyes bright with his tears of anger. "Now I can take your life just as well, _monster_!"

She continued gazing him with those fearful eyes, deep and expressive. Jack gasped as if he had been punched in the guts, as if all the fright in the defenseless being made his will waver for moment. He hastily looked away, shaking his head, when images of the exact same look, this time in brown eyes, flooded his mind.

Then the boy let himself sit down in the shallow waters, completely insensitive to the sea temperature, only letting the cool liquid soak up his heavy clothes, chilling his muscles, his bones, and his soul.

...

..

.

Toothiana tried to keep her head clear and free from the consuming panic. All her organized self was of no use now. Nothing could ever prepare her for such situation.

_It is all your fault…,_ she thought sorrowfully, _If you had listened to what they said to you, to their warnings, you wouldn’t have dove in this situation. And now look at you, dying at the mercy of a mere human._

But she had to admit it: what a cute human – _DO YOU THINK IT’S TIME TO THINK ABOUT HIS CUTENESS RIGHT NOW?_

_Okay Tooth, relax; try to think of a way out, while you still have water to breathe…_

She heard the water splash, and lifted her eyes, just to see his kneeling form, with the warm color clothing in his lap.

He looked so weak, so vulnerable. But still, it wasn’t _him_ who was slowly suffocating. Or so she though…

Her eyes wouldn’t leave him. If entranced by his alien presence or if wanting to keep him under surveillance, she would never know. But suddenly, shiver crossed the mermaid's body, when the silence was abruptly broken.

Tough his voice was much softer now, not at all like the terrifying roars from before that hurt her sensitive hearing. No, it was so… soothing. How could a creature with such a calming voice be capable of doing any harm at all?

And believe me, voice is something really important for mermaids! It was how they related to one another. And from what Toothiana could hear, the boy brought great sorrow within his own.

He just, continued speaking, not making eye contact with her, blue irises stuck to the clothing. His tone broke sometimes, but he simply carried on, not once concerned by the fact that she couldn't understand what left his heart.

However, Tooth didn’t stopped him (not that she actually could). But she felt that this was something he truly needed to let go. So she sighed, and kept staring at him, the panic slowly abandoning her being completely.

…

..

.

The time passed and the two remained there, like statues, lulled by Jack’s peaceful tone and the sound of crashing waves, in the retreating tide. The clouds had parted slightly, shining kind beams of light here and there.

Toothiana wasn’t gazing at the boy anymore. Instead, she kept her eyes drifting through the suspended clouds, wondering how it would be to fly freely up there, away from mermaids and away from men.

She absently registered the water abandoning her lower gills. The ones from her neck had closed long ago, to avoid them to dry out.

Curiously, she noticed, that didn’t freaked her out!

It was too tiring, she guessed… Worrying costs too much oxygen.

 

_What a curious way to die…_

 

So, she closed her eyes, and with her gills giving a last painfully violent flutter, the grey mantle opened and the sun itself came down to kiss her cheek.


	4. Attempt of Undoing a Murder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You must not be angry at Jack! His frustration made him take it all on the first being that appeared. And a terrible mermaid, known for dragging people toward the depths of the ocean, was just the perfect candidate to blame for his tragedy.

_We are one with the sea and waves,_

_We are the ones doomed to live in the shades,_

_Born from foam, foam we’ll become,_

_We are the secret of the ocean, the most mysterious one…_

 

_“You’re too young”_ , they say, “ _too… moony.”_

Oh, but what’s wrong about resembling the moon? Wasn’t that supposed to be a compliment?

Even from afar, the moon was astonishing, shinning her tender light, calling mermaids to go see her close.

And many mermaids answered her calling, summing up in the moonlight bathed surface, letting themselves be blessed by the great goddess light.

"Why can’t I go too?" she used to eagerly plead, in her childhood times.

"It is too dangerous Toothiana. You are not ready yet." Rashmi would calmly state.

This was always the answer.

And every time the orb was fully enlightened, she would stay quietly in her lodging, watching her core-sister, together with all of her other sisters, swim towards the starry sky.

But before all this could succeed, Rashmi would lull her in her lap, making the currents dance with her beautiful voice.

 

_We are one with the sea and waves,_

_We are the ones doomed to live in the shades,_

_Born from foam, foam we’ll become,_

_We are the secret of the ocean, the most mysterious one…_

 

Then, she would leave little Toothiana with a last wave of hand, and the little mermaid would follow her figure with drowsy eyes, before succumbing to a deep slumber.

...

..

. 

He realized his eyes had wandered from the scarf to the water’s mirror-like surface, reflecting the clouds, high above.

Jackson blinked twice, focusing on the soft wool cloth in his grip, absently stroking it with his thumbs.

It was, apart from memories, the only thing he had left of her. All the rest was taken, together with her, by the sea.

"I guess the legends weren’t all true then!" he murmured, his being too tired for his voice to carry any kind of accusation. "It seems your kind takes innocent children along with grown up men, after all…"

At the lack of answer from the other part, Jack lifted his eyes. And, he had to admit, it made his heart tremble slightly, encountering that pair of rare gems staring deeply at him.

The monster’s eyes, he would dare to say, looked almost… kind.

And these conflicted feelings, made the bubble of frustration inside him swell up once more.

"Don’t look at me like that!" the boy hissed "It’s you who is the monster! It’s your fault!"

His eyes were flooded again, but he tried his best not to show weakness before such paltry creature. However, it was like he couldn’t hold back the words anymore.

"It’s your fault we went out to the sea that day!"

"It’s your fault the storm came!"

"It’s your fault we were with our heavy clothes on!"

"It’s your fault I couldn’t swim anymore!"

"I-It’s your fault that I couldn’t- I couldn’t _save_ her…"

He hung his head, exhausted from the outburst.

The boy couldn't help but feel that dark, cold, heavy mantle of guilt, he so desperately tried to avoid, settling itself on his shoulders once again. And it was like he could literally feel his spine sag from the weight of it.

But suddenly, his black-hole of grief, that seemed to suck what little light he had left in his heart, was pierced by the most beautiful sound.

His mind was dropped back in this reality, and he slowly blinked his eyes, focusing the now much lower water surface.

His currently freezing legs were completely out of the water, the wet cloth being cooled by the non-stopping ocean breeze. But that didn’t bother him, apparently.

His being was focused, instead, in finding the source of the wonderful sound.

The boy turned his head slightly, towards the uncovered beach sand.

And lying there, body now completely exposed, was the creature. Yes, she was undoubtedly a female creature.

Eyelids hid her exotic irises away from him, long, strange shaped magenta eyelashes barely stroking her pale cheek. Now that he noticed, all her skin colors looked much less saturated than an hour ago…

Without warning, from barely moving lips, he listened…

A song, in the most melodious voice he had ever heard, was chanted by the apparently unconscious mermaid.

He couldn’t understand the words that came out of the faintly stirring mouth, but that could not matter less. For the boy, her voice was more than enough.

_So this was the legendary siren song!_

Jack could now understand why sailors were so anxious to dive towards the deep cold, just to go after such sound!

But then, as fast as it had started, the mermaid stopped. And poor Jack had to hold himself, and retain the impulse to go and make her sing again.

The tune was so short and weak, that Jack could only compare it to a quick pray or a goodbye.

But his sorrow for the present silence was instantly surpassed, when her body totally lost its color.

...

..

.

The sun was hot on her face. Too hot for her liking. It was a strange feeling, and again, she didn’t have knowledge of any word to describe it. And this was something both frustrating and wonderful.

But in her delicate situation, she wasn’t so excited about the upper world anymore.

There was nothing she could do now, except accept her fate. Well, more accepting the consequences of her thoughtless actions, really.

Of all her sisters, she was mostly sorry for Rashmi. She was her core-sister nevertheless, and would be the one to feel her absence more intensely…

So, with one breath, she sang her goodbyes.

_We are one with the sea and waves,_

_We are the ones doomed to live in the shades,_

_Born from foam, foam we’ll become,_

_We are the secret of the ocean, the most mysterious one…_

And she let the serene darkness embrace her.

However, before she lost her conscious completely, she felt something holding her form, under her armpits.

Next, the pain of sensitive tail skin being dragged across the rough sand.

But then... then there was no more pain, no more suffering, and everything was peace.

...

..

.                                          

"No, come on, wake up!" he begged, shaking her shoulders, not minimally worried that he was touching the so called monster’s skin.

His heart had made a leap, and the boy had grown terribly pale, when he truly realized what had attempted to do. His pain and frustration, canalized to the first being he found, had almost made him... No, he couldn't live with another death caused by his own bloody hands. So the boy ran towards her, ignoring all the previous hate he had towards the innocent creature.

Swiftly holding her torso with his arms, he attempted to pull her heavy body to its belonging.

He could hear the call of waves just behind him, hurrying him to bring her back home. A few more steps and his legs splashed in the water.

"It’s not deep enough…" the boy huffed.

So with one last strong pull, he lost his balance in a sudden depression, falling backwards in the cold water, with one hopefully-not-dead mermaid on top.

Jack quickly broke the water surface, dripping bangs clung to his forehead, desperately holding the mermaid’s head above water. It was a dumb gesture, he realized, remembering that she wouldn’t drown.

_It is a natural reflex_ , he thought melancholically.

He considered doing mouth-to-mouth breathing, but again, that would be dumb.

"She has gills, you stupid!" he muttered. He needed to calm down.

"This can’t be happening again!"

Jack desperately started to shake her form, hands clenching her wet shoulders.

"No, come on, wake up! Don’t do this to me again!" he grunted.

His panic seemed only to grow and grow, just like last time. And reliving the terror twice was more brutal than what one would have ever expected.

The mermaid didn’t react, as pale and limp as ever.

Jack only stared at her, faces inches apart, unbelieving irises trying to find those hidden beauties, which he now realized, would probably never see again.

He let go of her with horror, staring at his dripping hands. However, as they trembled madly, and Jack felt like they were dripping blood, instead of clear water.

The boy covered his face with disgust and shame, all his body shaking intensely.

"What have I done?" the profound pain made his voice come out as a strangled whisper.

_"I’m the monster…"_

...

..

.

Meanwhile, a few feet below, the currents greeted their returned companion. And, as if looking at her state, and shaking their heads in disapproval, they entered her dried gills, filling them with life once more.

And with that, all her body awakened, healed by the power of water.

Next, her conscience was brought back to hers, until now, hibernating being.

Her mermaid’s body had the ability to shut down at the sudden lack of oxygen, surviving a few minutes without breathing. It was an ability she never thought would need…

She quickly opened her eyes and saw herself surrounded by her beloved ocean.

_Oh dear water, how I’ve missed you!_

And Toothiana was about to swim away, to never return to this nightmare again, when she suddenly felt a presence near her.

Peeking a fast look over the water, and she saw herself facing a trembling human.

Her body almost jolted back, for seeing the danger this close, but she then remembered the boy, and her previous situation, and how she miraculously ended up here, safe in the ocean again.

_Did he… saved her?_

Whoa, that was an interesting turn of events! What else happened while she was out?

Her instinct told her to go as fast as her fin would let her. To never return to shallow waters, mad human boys, or warm colored clothes.

But her heart seemed to tell otherwise, and she was dragged by it again.

Even after a nearly-death experience, she wouldn’t learn her lesson…

So she tilted her head, as she came closer to his hand-covered face. Stopping in just a momentary hesitation, Toothiana extended her arm, slim fingers pulling his bigger hands down slightly, exposing his puffy eyes.

And those irises, blue as the sea she loved so much, widened madly at the sight before him.

The mermaid only bowed her head with a tender smile.

And with one quick glance over her shoulder, she dove, splashing some crystal droplets.

Behind stayed a completely frozen boy, that couldn’t describe the relief and happiness he felt.

And towards the depths swum an incredibly lucky mermaid, who, with a smile on her face, had surely lived the adventure of a life time. Or so she thought…


	5. The Lonely Shepherd

V

_\- Keep your legs beating! Keep them beating, Em!_

_\- N-no, no Jack, I can’t!_

_\- Yes you can! You’ve gotta trust me!_

_\- Jaaaack…_

_.._

The soaring wind saved him from the painful memories displaying before his eyes, still so recently marked in his soul, that his body was oblivious to the fact that they were just that: memories.

He could feel the dreadful coolness of the water soaking his being, freezing everything in its way with a cruelly gelid kiss.

It froze his arms and legs, still struggling to keep his head above water; it froze his torso, his shuddering lungs, desperately trying to keep themselves free from fluids; it froze his throat, who couldn´t scream _her_ name any longer; it froze his brain, who was enable of thinking properly anymore; it started freezing his heart, who was certainly ready to give up.

And from his previously joyful and carefree spirit, the only thing left was a tiny ball of warm light, right in the center, which fought the ice to the peripheries of his core.

And this was what the sea had done to Jackson Overland, now more Frost than ever, whose will to live was immediately extinguish as the being right on his side, that other half of him, vanished in the unforgiving waves.

With a sudden shiver, Jack’s mind and body seemed to wake up, and it was with a deep sigh that the boy found that there was no water surrounding him, and his feet safely touched the cold grass, the wind caressing his face.

"Baa…"

The boy jumped three feet in the air, the sudden bleat coming just from behind him. He swiftly turned, gasping, and his blue eyes lowered to the pair of white clouds at his feet.

"Jeez… Eddy, Socks, what have I told you about sneaking up at me like that?"

The two young lambs jumped and kicked, bleating with joy. Jack chuckled and gave Socks a little pat on the loin, and the pair went hoping away back to their mothers.

The young shepherd got back on his feet, stretching to his full height, carved staff firmly clenched in the pale fist.

And tied there, right on the big crook of it, the red scarf fluttered in the breeze. A bright sign of hope, like a flag that the boy would hoist proudly, reminding him of who he really was.

And he owned that tiny flame of optimism to a certain miracle that happened to him, weeks ago, which he simply couldn’t take out of his mind. It was like that splash of salty water had woke him up from the nightmare of the past few days, showing him that there was still a lot to see in this world and he would be losing it if he stay like that, roaming around as if he was already dead.

Em would certainly not approve it, his brother wasting his life like that…

Surprisingly, he felt his lips stretch in a smile at the thought of her, instead of becoming all gloomy and depressed.

He started wandering around his small herd, palm gently stroking the tangled wool of the grazing animals. They lived such a peaceful live: no worries, just enjoying the early grass and the beautifulness of the hill.

Behind them, the mountains in the south extended their peaks, white covered summits glistening in the rare sun that was able to shine between the passing clouds.

Jack then turned them his back, finally facing the great blue covering everything at eye reach, right there before him. The wind blew directly from the sea, bringing the salty air with it.

His eyes couldn’t help but wander, trying to spot some sign of a strange presence. He would be dammed if he admitted to himself he wanted to see the mythical creature again. But a part of him also knew it was no use to lie it, not to himself.

The question was, would she return? Oh, he doubted that, not after what she had been through. Not after what he had done to her.

Sometimes he wondered if it had all been real, or if it was just his mad mind trying to find something colorful in this grey, dull life. Who knows...

Well, she does. Because, deep down he was sure: she was out there, somewhere, happily swimming through the refreshing water, safe in the ocean that was her home, away from the danger of men. Men like him…

...

..

.

She flapped her tail as fast as she could, fin thundering strongly against the withstanding liquid.

“Oh my! Rashmi is going to drag me to the surface and let me dry there, in the scorching sun!”, the hurried mermaid kept whining in her head.

And there she went, lips apart in order to let the salty liquid flow into her gills, by entering her mouth. But she swam so fast that it looked like there wasn’t enough time for the oxygen to be filtrated out of the water. So she truly was almost out of breath.

Toothiana was getting near her village, thus she dove towards the thick green forest of undulating algae, cautious, as if to check if the coast was clear.

She was in no mood to give detailed information about where she had been and doing what.

So, seeing the open waters ahead, she giggled mischievously. The thrill of doing what she wasn’t supposed to was starting to get addictive.

The mermaid bit her lip at the thought, but chuckled even more, getting out of the forest with a gracious loop.

However, out of the blue, her body bumped against something in her path.

"Auch..." she groaned, rubbing her forehead.

But then her irises opened and caught sight of the form before her, and a muffled "Ops!" left her lips.

Her head-fins immediately clung to her skull, and she bowed, showing her respects towards the personage.

"Escutah..." she whispered, courteously.

_What were the odds that she would bump specifically against her...?,_ her increasingly rebellious mind simply grumbled. She quickly chided herself, shocked at the lack of manners a part of her seemed to possess.

Then a clear sound spread through the water, reaching her ears slightly from above.

"Young Toothiana, it’s better for you to watch where you’re going..." the taller mermaid stated calmly, but there was no concern in her melodious voice. In fact, it totally lacked emotion.

The other straightened up again, facing the being before her.

The older character tail and torso were dyed in hues of purple and deep-blue, the undulating fin marked with strange elegant patterns, unique to each mermaid. They told the story of one’s life, in a language of bubbles and spume. Toothiana’s was a blank page, to be filled when reaching her adulthood.

Escutah’s angular features showed a serene expression, brow just with the slightest frown, condemnatory about the juvenile mermaid’s behavior.

The older one was an especially respected figure in Toothiana’s community. She was the Great-Mother’s listener. It was her job to intervene in the communication between mother-of-all wishes and her daughters’ needs.

So, yeah, she maybe just committed some kind of secret offense or something like that.

Her revolutionary self quickly ran to the backs of her conscience, leaving her flustered personality to deal with the current matter.

"I am truly sorry, I didn’t mean to, I didn’t saw where I was going- Oh, you already said that," her mouth only continued babbling and babbling, like a unstoppable current of words.

The other blinked at first, caught out of guard, but urgently signaled for her to bring to an end all this excuses.

"T-Toothiana! Enough!" she commanded, in a strong tone. The smaller one bit her lip and lowered her head, embarrassed.

"I’m sorry..."

The Listener sighted, but recovered her serene stance, proceeding in her beautiful, although neutral, voice.

"Toothiana, has your core-sister entrusted you with any special task yet?"

The younger one’s violet irises, shot right up again, and she straightened herself.

"No, she hasn’t." she stated. She didn’t know whether  to feel exited or not. It had always been her dream to play an important part of their society, to by useful and needed. But now she had a more interesting... project.

"I see..." the other stated, looking over Toothiana’s shoulder, towards the green slick forest the mermaid had burst from some waves ago. 

"Maybe I need to talk to Rashmi about it." she continued, absently. But then her almond eyes set on the younger mermaid before her. "It seems you have too much... free time."

And Toothiana couldn’t help but gulp slightly.

_Oh, she was in trouble..._

"Now go home, and beware where you are swimming to. No more loops in the village, understood?"

Escutah dismissed her, and graciously swam away, but not before she had a hesitant nod from the ashamed mermaid.

Toothiana let out a restrained breath, and softly bumped her tail against the sandy floor, as she let herself sink in those clear waters. With a nervous giggle, she let all the tension drain from her completely.

And she couldn’t help her mind to be flooded once again with thoughts related to a certain encounter, that she had long gave up on trying to ignore. She titled her head towards the surface, the shining waters luring her more than they ever did.

The muscles of her tail ached slightly, exposed to too much effort in these last days. But a last peek wouldn’t hurt...

With another delighted giggle, she kicked hard, impelling her form in the water, higher and higher.

All the distance she had swam recently, all the scolding she had endured from Rashmi for getting home late... it was all worth it!

And up she went, forgetting about her childish behavior, her new responsibilities, and whatever others might think. She felt free, and that was all that mattered...

...

..

.

"Great, this was exactly what I needed now..." the boy muttered grumpily, using his hands to hold his weight as he lowered himself between the rocks.

Earlier, he had lost himself in thoughts – again... – when he heard the bells echoing up the slope, born down there in the village. It was time to return.

And it was when he was gathering up the herd that he finally noticed. There was one little lamb, grazing near his mother. Only _one_ little lamb.

"Oh no..." he just hissed, kicking the grass, before his eyes started scanning the entire lea. "Socks!"

And now here he was, playing hide and seek with one naughty lamb. He shook his head, smiling slightly, as he followed the track of softly stepped grass.

Well, herding was normally an occupation full of calm moments, so sometimes, something to shake things up a bit was welcomed. But not when it was time to get back home.

He continued going down the hill, eyes stick to the floor, ears alert to the slightest bleat. Jack realized he had certainly come a long way when he caught that familiar sound, of waves crashing against the cliffs.

But he quickly forgot all of it when his irises saw a white blur jump just ahead.

"Gotcha!" he whispered with a smirk on his face, making eye contact with the runaway cub. Its sudden bleat made Jack sprint like a predator, towards its direction, as the shepherd saw that the animal was going to escape again.

"I don’t have time for this!" he whispered again, breathing hotly.

But his heart nearly stopped as he registered where the young lamb was fleeing to.

_Nonononono!,_ his brain screamed, as his foot pushed harder against the ground.

Apart from the blood rushing in his ears, the only thing the boy could hear was the crashing waters, spume elevating in the air. The place where land ended and sea begun. And it was exactly towards there they were both running into.

So with one last step, the boy jumped, firmly enveloping the scared lamb in his arms. The feeling of emptiness was quickly replaced by one of coolness in his stomach, as he firmly closed his eyes.

But it only lasted a second. Before he could notice, his back was sliding down something made of sedimentary rock, that crumbled in his way down, scratching the pale skin from his back.

The high bleat of the screaming animal stopped as fast as the boys bum hit the sand, arms still firmly holding the flouncing lamb.

A gasp was suddenly heard, and a splash in the water.

The boy quickly opened his eyes.

It was that bay... And in the water, peeking, as if from one of his memories, two beautiful lilac eyes stared back at him.

* * *

 

I drew some time ago a little illustration for this chapter: [Tumblr](http://adam-anellaer.tumblr.com/post/73546508874/this-is-a-scene-from-another-rs-mermaid-au-ive), [DA](http://adam-anellaer.deviantart.com/art/Grazing-Herd-427363359).

Jack has, in fact, white hair in the drawing but I never actually decided which color I would like his hair to be in this story, so I had the care of never describing whether he had brown or white locks. I leave it to you to decide  ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I though it would be funny since Jack has his shepherds staff... he should be an actual shepherd! Besides, Jack chasing little lambs is fun! Also, little peek at Tooth's underwater world!


	6. Pronunciation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is where the fluff begins *w*

VI

"Seee-a, cee-a, ceee, seeee, see, sea…" the funny sounds that left her throat made her scrunch her brow, as she tried hard to twist her tongue and mouth in the right way.

This “s” sound was particularly difficult. It seemed to only exist out of the liquid environment, as the air passed in the narrow opening her tongue made against her upper jaw. It was curious and delightful, for being so foreign to her.

The surface brought a whole new world of sounds she was eager to discover. She gasped enthusiastically, as the thought of how would be singing like in the open air came to her mind. All of this was just… She was so excited that no fitting word came to her mind.

The calm waters of the little bay started to mimic the flaming hues of the dusky sky, reflecting the bright oranges and pinks in the mermaid’s happy face.

Though she was in such concentration, trying this new word - the one humans used to name her home – she didn’t noticed the fiery spectacle around her.

"Seaa…" she pronounced slowly, and immediately giggled at the slight whistling sound it made.

But suddenly a gasp left her drying throat, as from the steep wall of rock that hid the bay, small stones came tumbling down, and right behind them, something slid loudly downhill, enveloped in a cloud of dust. Whatever it was, it made horrid sounds, as some creature in agony.

Toothiana instinctively dove, hiding herself in the shallow waters. She was about to flee again, and find some other preferably more private place where she could practice peacefully, when her eyes couldn’t resist but take a peek at the unknown creature.

There was a faint painful groan, and as the particles of dust faded away allowing the figure to reveal itself, Toothiana could only blink.

A cough echoed on the rocks, born on the appearing being.

She could now distinguish two pairs of eyes. The first ones were completely black and glimmering, situated on each side of a small white head. The creature kept struggling to get free, free from two arms that held it firmly.

Two arms…

It was then that her irises lifted to the second form, a pair of cerulean oceans staring right back at her.

And she hadn’t realized how much she longed to see _this_ specific blue again.

"Jack…?" she simply let it escape from her lips, half sigh, half surprise.

But suddenly her brain started working again, and both their eyes widened in embarrassment and shock.

Her head-fins shot up for a second, and the mermaid blushed and drained out of color simultaneously.

But before mortified escapes could be made, the boy got straight up, not even once caring with the finally released lamb. Socks would be safe; there was no easy way out.

Jack moved forward, stopping just where the sea kissed the cold rough sand.

"You… You said my name!" he whispered, eyes wide in realization.

He absently stepped forward, though the regret was immediate, and quickly stopped at the sight of her wincing. One wrong move and she would be gone forever…

"Wait!" he suddenly realized, "You can understand me?"

He sounded almost hopeful, a slight tone of despair barely present.

Toothiana only pursed her lips, finally understanding the consequences of her silly give off. Without thinking, she strongly shook her head “no”.

The boy, on the other hand, couldn’t be more disappointed, eyes falling to his bare feet.

"Oh, for a second I thought we might…" the mutter came deep, from the back of his throat. But then his irises snapped right up. "Hey, wait a minute…"

And he couldn’t avoid chuckling full-heartily, as he watched the girl’s irises widening madly, flushed cheeks bright in the evening’s setting light, as she realized her own mistake.

But the mermaid turned away, feeling more embarrassed than she had ever been, under the amused chuckle of this strange human-being. And she was ready to dive and disappear, tired of feeling this exposed before a human boy, when the sound of splashing water reached her ears.

"No!" she suddenly heard him burst out, and quickly looked back, astonished.

He seemed to also realize he had said that far more desperately than what it should have seemed, as he instantly advert his gaze. But managing to swallow his pride and admit he was indeed curious about this shy creature, he spoke.

It came out as a hesitant whisper.

"Please don’t go..."

And Toothiana could only stare.

...

..

.

"So..." he began awkwardly, keeping his eyes on his crossed legs. "In the end you really do speak English, huh?"

The mermaid before him titled her head, looking confused.

Yes, the  _mermaid_ before him...

This was surely the strangest thing he had ever done. And the difficult part was Jack had to leave everything he thought he knew, out of this bay. It was the only way he would be fair to both of them.

The mermaid was now a complete blank page to be filled as Jack would come to know her. No links to previous myths or unconfirmed truths.

"What I mean is," he continued, trying to be as clear as possible. "you have always spoken my language?"

The look on her face showed she struggled to comprehend and to come back with a proper reply. In the end she simply shook her head “no”. And Jack lost no time.

"Then how...?"

But he got interrupted, as the mermaid pointed to one of her strange-shaped ears. Then she tapped her forehead, and proceeded by opening her mouth and mimicking words.

The boy watched closely the succession of gestures. It was like a game of charades, and he was starting to have a little fun.

"You... heard?" but before the mermaid could say no, he shouted. "You’ve learned!"

Enthusiastic nods from the other.

He watched as glad smile formed on her lips, but as quickly as ever, his mind was once again drowned in new questions, which he hurried voicing:

"From who?"

And the mermaid blinked at his restless interrogatory. But then, thinking for a second, she struggled to get her fin out of water and hurriedly pointed at it, before letting the weight collapse into its rightful place.

Jack, however, after gazing intensely at her tail, frowned, not yet getting it. The girl huffed, frustrated and opened her mouth, hesitantly.

"M..... Me-Merm...." it was really hard, and she was sure she looked ridiculously like a fish out of water, desperately gasping for air.

She lifted her eyes to the boy, expecting to see him doing his best to contain a bursting laughter, but the only thing she saw were wide open eyes, staring at her eagerly, as if admiring her effort. So she shoved that thought aside and kept trying.

"Mermaids..." she finished with a sigh. Jack made a face of understanding, and quickly repeated, just to be sure.

"There are other mermaids who taught you?" receiving a simple nod he smiled. It was fun to know this kind of unimaginable things.

He adjusted himself in his sitting position, in the cool sand of the end of another day, gazing the amazing being before him with wide open eyes, as if they weren’t able of capturing her as a whole.

Little Socks himself had already calmed down, and laid near its shepherd, taking a nap to rest from all the fuss he had caused.

But then something assaulted Jack’s conscience, and he quickly blurted out more questions.

"You called me Jack!" he remembered how he had been extremely shocked to hear his name in her dulcet voice. He was immediately curious, and asked cautiously. "How... how did you know my name?"

The mermaid flushed deeply again, and in her morphing skin-tone a quick wave of red passed over the beautiful blues and greens. Her violet irises drifted to the water below her, a perfect mirror to the painted clouds above.

But then, she tried to remember... that word he had used before to describe...

"Heard..." Her pronunciation was surprisingly good, her fast learning already kicking in.

And of course, being a mermaid, sounds in particular were something very natural to her. Even the strangest, like the ones these humans used.

And the boy was taken aback, for a second, by the skills she had at mimicking and the fastness of her comprehension. She surely was a very intelligent creature. But... that word, surprisingly, made something feel wrong...

Creature...

He abruptly realized he didn’t know her name, and that felt strange to him, for the first thing humans usually knew about each other was their name.

And he couldn’t just keep addressing her as creature or mermaid, could he?

"What is your name?" he inquired, staring at her eyes, as she lifted her head again at the sound of his voice.

And although she shifted slightly under his strong gaze, she titled her head, frowning.

_Okay, now it is your turn to do the charades..._

"Uhm..." he thought out loud, attempting to figure out how to explain her what “name” meant.

"Well, you see... I’m Jack!" he started signaling towards his own person, waiting to see if she understood. And when she simply looked at him like he was doing the strangest thing in the world, making all those gestures just to point to himself, he cringed.

_She’s not stupid, you idiot!_ , his mind seemed to quickly remember him. So, with that set, he proceeded.

"My _name_ is Jack." and he assured she associated the word “name” with his own name. "Jackson Overland Frost."

And she seemed to understand, as her lips formed a little “o”, and she nodded. Fitting herself in a more comfortable position, she brought her hand to her chest, and prepared to let out those words never said out of water.

"Too-thi-a-na..." the mermaid pronounced, wincing slightly at how bad it sounded in the air. It felt dry and ephemeral. She tried to ignore it, as she repeated one more time to be sure he got it. "Toothiana!"

In the sea, it sounded almost like a song. Up here, the boy scrunched his nose at the strangeness of it.

" Tuuu.."

"Toothiana." she helped, and he repeated.

"Tuuut..."

"Tooth..."

"Tooth?"

"Toothia-"

"Tooth!" and the boy interrupted her, as she was going to teach him the last part of her name, but he started laughing whole-heartily.

She could do nothing but blink, not really getting what was the reason of so melodious sound.

He even felt backwards, and only chuckled, lying down on the wet sand. And as soon as he recovered, he got up again, watching the neutral mermaid before him.

When the boy noticed her confused look, he frowned slightly, and got a step closer.

"Tooth!?" he half asked, half exclaimed, sounding as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. To which the other basically replied, as ignorant as ever:

"Tooth?"

And Jack suddenly came towards her, catching her out of guard, so she could barely lean back in order to escape his brusque approach and impulsive closeness. But he seemed oblivious to her discomfort, coming really close to her face, muttering deeply:

"Tooth." and she was about to draw back, when his hands travelled to his mouth, pulling the thin lips upwards. "Tooth..." he managed to say, still comprehensible, even with his fingers on his oral cavity.

And Toothiana was actually about to dive away from this awkward situation, when a glimmer of whiteness called her attentions.

As her irises turned to the source of that purity, she barely avoided a swoon. But that mesmerized gasp of adoration managed to leave her lips.

"Tooth?" she asked, enchanted, not even once drifting her eyes away from such beauties. She saw a finger tapping softly a clean canine and a muffled word was heard.

"Tooth." the boy confirmed, and removed his own hands, watching the mermaid with a dreamy smile on face.

He chuckled lightly, making her look him in the eyes again, and he pointed at her with a smirk.

"You... Tooth!"

And she couldn’t bother less for him not knowing how to pronounce her long melodic name. If by calling her that, he had those wonderful things in mind, well... she felt flattered!

And this is the story how Toothiana became only Tooth, and how a blank page was suddenly filled with a good measure of laughter and glee. Something Jack had been carving for, lately.

So it was with peaceful smiles, and lightness in their hearts, that they watched the sun give a last stroke of paint to the marvelous sky, before retrieving towards unpainted parts of the globe.

The bells ended calling Jack back home, and he there he went, carrying the sleepy lamb up the darkened hill. He looked back once, thought, and Tooth would forever hold in memory the tender smile that graced his lips.

The mermaid, for instance, was left with the waves and stars as company. And not before breathing in that nocturne air, just for the sake of its taste, did she let herself be swallowed by her even darker home.

It was as if she had suddenly jumped between universes.

And the only traces of the true existence of the dream she just left, were the memories she took with her, and the hope of the day when she would come and make new ones...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Tooth! (This is basically the dialog the entire chapter!)


	7. Chapter 7

VI

"What was that creature that fell off with you?" the sweet voice travelled to his ears, making the boy wake up from the quiet daze he was into, mind wandering vaguely about the events of the last couple of days.

Neither one had said a word to each other. There was no previous arrangement, nor a defined place and hour. They only knew that in the afternoon that followed that quieter encounter, their gazes crossed each other, lilac and blue, as one emerged from the refreshing waters and the other climbed down the wall of the cliff.

Timid smiles immediately graced their lips. And that unspoken confirmation to the doubt that prevented them from sleeping properly in the past night, eased their hearts, for which they knew that they weren’t the only ones to desire the other’s presence.

It had started with a certain climate of awkwardness lingering in the air, both not really knowing what to say. The mere coincidence – not such a coincidence after all - of them meeting again, in that hidden bay, made a heavy tension fall upon them.

However, the shepherd knew there was no time for uncomfortable silences, or, he was sure, the stealthy mermaid would simply swim away.

For Jack, in the beginning, it was like being around a wild animal. One sudden movement and it might flee and never return. And Jack was so curious about this shy creature that he couldn’t afford such thing as to frighten her.

Well, giving it a second thought, their first encounter was definitely what we call traumatizing. And still, she came back.

With that last thought, the boy was suddenly awakened, blinking the fogy look out of his eyes.

"Sorry what?" and his irises focused on the girls face below him, body submerged in the cool water, her bright eyes set on him.

She giggled softly, and Jack couldn’t avoid a small apologetic smile to stretch his lips.

"I ask" and the stern look the boy gave her, warned her about her mistake. She immediately repeated, thanking the boy with a smile for helping her out with this ‘inglish’ language.

"I asked, what was the creature you held in your arms." she repeated, recalling the second time they met and that white-headed beast that made an horrible noise.

"Oh, Socks!" the boy exclaimed, finally getting what was she referring to.

"S-socks?" the mermaid tried to copy, wrenching her nose at the name. "What is a socks?"

"No, Socks it's his name. He is a lamb." he tried to clarify, and then remembered a way for her to understand it better, giving an example.

"Like, huh, my name is Jack, but I am a human. And you a mermaid, but you are called Tooth!"

He smirked at that last part, making the girl shake her head slightly.

Her name wasn’t Tooth! Only the boy called her that! But, actually, it didn’t seem bother her... In fact, it felt nice just to have her name being said in his singular voice. As a mermaid, she was more accustomed to sweeter intonations, like the ones of her sisters. It was nice to discover such husky tones.

But she quickly shook her head dismissively. Her curious violet gaze, full of wonder for all this new things she was learning about, turned to the boy sitting on the rocks ahead of her.

 "What is lamb?" she continued inquiring, resting her head on her own smooth palms, elbows set on the rocks under her.

And the shepherd spoke all he knew, happy to share those kind of facts that were, indeed, is field of knowledge.

"Lamb is a baby sheep, and a sheep is..." but he couldn’t finish whatever he was going to say, as Tooth swiftly peeped in again.

"What is a baby?"

And the boy simply stared at her for a second, caught out of guard by the quick change of subject.

"Would you care to stop interrupting? I have to keep a train of thought, you know?" he stated, pretending to be annoyed.

The mermaid’s eyes widened, and her head-fins instinctively clung to her skull, as she lowered her look to the peaceful waters.

But suddenly a splash of water soaked her already wet skin, as the boy teasingly kicked a wave, attempting to call her attention.

"I’m just kidding, okay?" he said softly, showing her that cocky smile of his. Toothiana head-fins shot up right away, as the mermaid displayed a confuse frown.

_These humans and their strange ways of showing emotions..._

But her mind quickly drifted back to the main subject.

"Baby." she voiced, and her irises kept staring at the puzzled expression that changed Jack’s features, before a look of understanding illuminated his eyes.

"Oh, yeah, babies..." and he coughed awkwardly, drifting his eyes for a moment, in the intent of finding the best way to explain it to her.

"Well, baby," he continued in a knowledgeable tone. " is the state in which a lot of creatures are born. When us humans, and all the other mammals and birds, are born, we first appear to be like a miniature of what we will became at an adult age." he paused just to see if she understood. Her focused expression showed that she seemed to be following his train of thought. So he decided to proceed, starting to emphasize his lecture with hand-movements.

"We are born babies, then grow up to be juveniles, and then we became mature." At the slight frown the mermaid showed at the last word, Jack quickly added. "Mature is when you are able of producing your own babies."

"Oh..." Toothiana said slowly, coming to know more things about this upper world.

But the confused look that suddenly settled itself in the boy’s face, anticipated the next question.

"Why, isn’t this how it works in your world?" his husky voice asked curiously, slightly leaning forward. And the girl’s emerged head softly shook “no”.

"Then where do you all come from?" he continued inquiring, his tone with increasing softness.

Toothiana stared at her own reflection in the water below, mouth slightly open, trying to find the fitting words to describe the process.

"We are all daughters of Atlantis, our great-mother." the mermaid started to clarify. Her voice proceeded with great tenderness and respect, as she told the human boy the story of her people.

"And there are times, when the moon shines the brightest, and all grown mermaids go singing to the surface." she continued, her mouth keeping up with the images that played before her eyes.

"It rarely happens, but sometimes, the group brings back a gift from the moon, and offers it to the Mother-of-All." her violet orbs suddenly turned up again, staring directly at Jack’s own pair of oceans. "And from the sacred union of the moon and the sea, a young mermaid is born..."

The mermaid ceased her narration, sheepishly looking up at the boy. Jack, on the other hand, looked like he was under some sort of spell, lulled by Tooth’s melodic voice, as if he too witnessed this beautiful event.

But then the mermaid quickly added:

"It is a great honor to be part of such occurrence! Soon enough, I’ll also be given the permission to participate!" her voice carried an exited happiness, as if she had longed for it for a long time.

She then remembered how Escutah had tried to give her a rightful occupation in their community. It was a sign, a sign that she would no longer be “Young Toothiana”!

"Yeah, it seems truly magical..." the boy absently whispered, with a delighted smile on his face, thinking about this unknown way of reproduction.

But the girl, yet again, interrupted his divagations.

"Why? Where do babies come from in your world?" she asked, innocently, being quite surprised at the sudden splash of red – she knew now that the warm color was called – which spread itself over the boy’s face, coloring also the tips of his ears with in a strong crimson.

"We’ll leave that explanation to some other time, okay..." he simply muttered, diverting his eyes to the now-surprisingly-much-more-interesting wall of rock.

That left a perplexed mermaid, crocking one eyebrow, at the human boy’s strange reaction.

_Oh, these humans..._ , she found herself thinking again, huffing a frustrated breath.

"So..." she broke the silence, making the boy turn to look at her again. "The creature is Socks, and socks is a thing, but not in this case, as Socks is a lamb." she continued, summing up their conversation.

In that little pause, Jack quickly explained that socks were things that one puts on his feet, to keep them warm. Unfortunately, thanks to the boy’s apparent manner of walking around barefoot, he couldn’t show it to her.

The mermaid swiftly asked why would a lamb be called socks, and the young shepherd said it was because of the black marks that covered both his front legs, making it look like he was wearing that specific piece of clothing.

Once again, this earned the boy a strange look from pretty Tooth, as she huffed one more time about humans and their strange nomenclatures.

Jack laughed whole-heartily at her reaction, making only a pout come to the girl’s lips, as she didn’t know what she had said that was so funny.

As is laughter morphed into irregular chuckles, Toothiana hurried to change the subject.

"And, as you were saying, lambs are baby sheep, and sheep is...?"

The boy’s delighted outburst slowly faded, but no one could take that pleased smile out of his face.

It felt really nice, to laugh like this again, not a single worry weighing in his joyful heart. In that hidden spot, at that rare moment, Jack was the carefree boy he had once been, free to laugh as long as he liked, and, when deciding to stop, having such nice company before him.

Suddenly, Toothiana saw a warm flicker pass in his clear eyes, as they became soft for a second. She couldn’t help but to feel her face warm up under such tender look. No one has ever looked at her like that. The mermaid shifted faintly in the calm waters, as her thorax and neck gills sort of gasped.

But as fast as it appeared, it vanished, and Tooth had to think for a while if it had been truly real or if it was her imagination playing tricks.

She instantly woke up from such wonderings, as the boy’s low voice reached her ears.

"Well, sheep is an animal we humans have domesticated, kind of tamed, and we use its fur, that is called wool, to make all sorts of cloths - including socks!" he explained thoroughly. Then his tone shifted into one of pride and Jack continued. "I am a shepherd, so it is my job to..."

And he continued narrating things about his life up here, on the open air, with Tooth listening mindfully, her eyes sparkling with wonder for this unknown world.

They stayed there, until the distant church bells remembered Jack of the life that awaited for him outside this rocky walls.

And it proceeded like this for many weeks, as the days got longer and the waters warmer, each day Jack leaving his herd in a fenced field nearby, jumping towards the beach, bright red scarf fluttering madly, tied up to the staff he brought in his closed fist.

And each day, the illusive mermaid would appear, and they would chat about everything there was to chat about, always keeping the unspoken promise that every afternoon, they would meet up in _their_ hidden bay.

 

 

 


	8. What will we have for lunch?

VIII

The lime colored grass waved calmly, caressed by the sighting breeze. Not a single sound could be heard besides the subtle breaths of the surrounding landscape and the distant bells tied up to the necks of grazing sheep.

Then suddenly, the steps of a hurried climb traveled up hill, accompanied by the heavy pants of the running boy. The glowing sun, shinning intensely upon him, seemed to alert to the fact that he was currently late.

It was noon already.

And though his mouth remained open, trying to take in all the air his longing lungs desired, an unmovable excitement kept tugging up the corner of his lips. His wide step carried the young shepherd’s light structure as swiftly as it could, proceeding quickly towards his destiny.

However, even as the warm rays of light made the tiny droplets on his forehead sparkle slightly, some ugly-looking clouds, dense and tumultuous, made its way towards the sunbathed shores.

Jack hurried in his way, eagerly clenching the soft fabric in his closed hand. He could hardly wait to see her reaction, as the boy suddenly became conscious of the weight in his arm.

He smirked knowingly at the completely filled bag. 

Thankfully, he noticed, the hidden bay was near, as the familiar path continued to reveal itself in each new turn, the clear line of too much stepped grass showing just how many times he had walked these fields, lately. 

With a long intake of air, his slim legs gave a last sprint, gravity surely helping, as the hill descended towards a welcoming blue sea, anticipating the boy’s arrival with gleeful splashes of water and spume in the steep calcareous cliffs.

A lovely mermaid was waiting.

...

..

.

The air kept warming up, sun glowing hard on the bare rocks that laid under its hot mantel of light.

Toothiana’s now constantly flushed cheeks showed just how much the heating weather was affecting her colder necessities. Therefore, the mermaid spent more and more time submerged, longing for the freshness of the ocean, trying to escape the unforgiving sun.

Even Jack, who now always wore lighter linen clothing, kept showing up with those huge straw hats his mum made him wear – to which Tooth would laugh whole-heartily – in the effort of protecting his pale complexion from the merciless rays.

And it was nearly impossible to imagine the look of wonder in the mermaid’s face, when one day, the boy’s shoulders and nose appeared colored in a bright shade of red.

She immediately inquired when did he gained that specific ability of skin-shifting. The shepherd had dismissively stated that it was the sun’s fault.

At the beginning, young Toothiana couldn’t understand how one can blame the Sun for anything.

But the next day, when Jack’s burnt skin started to flake off, the worried girl launched herself towards him, abruptly tugging his hand, immediately whispering apologizes when the boy winced at her sudden touch.

With careful wet fingers, she stroked the crimson areas, rapidly hushing him whenever he tried to assure he was fine.

“You don’t play with the sun!”, Toothiana had chided, and then hurriedly pushed his form to the cooled shades of the cliffs.

Then, with one last glare to the bright disc up above, she too sheltered herself from such masked dangers.

Today thought, the air felt cooler, Toothiana absently registered, as her head broke the water’s surface. Cautiously, her eyes wandered through the private area of the bay, always checking on some kind of hidden danger.

Her violet orbs ended up settling on the heavy clouds that came from the faraway flat horizon, the ocean shimmering in the light of the ends of spring. She squinted her eyes with a frown, but eagerly dismissed it.

Instead, she let her body submerge again, laying her back on the sandy floor of the bay, irises watching as the bright beams played with the undulation. In her bored form, she vaguely started playing with the sand, letting the soft sediments continuously drain between her fingers.

It was “sun-day”, as the boy had called it, so the mermaid patiently waited.

Because of young Toothiana’s new imposed tasks and Jack’s responsibilities towards the herd, a single day of the week had to be settled for their encounters. A _single_ day when they would chat without a single drop of worry in their hearts.

Neither one had liked the idea at first, thought they wouldn’t complain about it out loud; but there was a quiet agreement that it would be better if their secret meetings remained secret. Both were exceptionally conscious of what each community might think of this _friendship_.

Yes, Tooth dared to call it that... Because after all these months of getting to know each other, she ended up finding in the human boy a dear friend she had never had the chance to encounter back at home, in her society.

And now, looking backwards, Toothiana noticed that her entire childhood had been spent with her own self as company! Not that it had bothered her, most of the time.

She had always loved to explore the surrounding environment in which she grew. And look where that curious nature had brought her!

In spite of all these reflections, the mermaid was not in her bubbliest moods.

She was usually extremely excited, longing all week for the settled day. The times she spent up here with Jack, she would have to admit, were the highlights of her activities. 

But today, thought, it was as if all this energy and enthusiasm had suddenly drained from her, leaving her persona lazily resting on the seabed.

She made her pinkish eyelids hide the lavender-colored irises, and Toothiana sighed, causing a fresh gush of water to enter her gills.

For the first time in her long existence, her brow slightly creased unpleasantly at the thought of her respiratory surfaces.

She caught herself feeling as if they imprisoned her somehow, making her dependent on the constant presence of water, instead of allowing her to lay on the warmed rocks, next to her dearest companion.

For the first time, Tooth grimaced at her condition, as she would never be able to see the magnificent fields Jack always toke his herd to. She would never explore those woods and mountains he kept telling her about.  For the moon, there was so much more she would never see!

And in her already gloomy state, these thoughts only made her even less happy, as her body seemed to sink more on the sandy soil.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open, as something was promptly caught by her acute hearing.

There, right above her, features distorted by the undulating surface and undulating light, a bright grin with gleaming eyes called her from out of water.

She felt her own lips curl up a bit, while she used her arms to raise her form towards the beaming creature.

But it was when her rosy cheeks softly broke the surface, that she noticed just how close his own face had been lingering the water.

Wet nose and not-so-wet-one gently touched, tip to tip, and the joyful smiles were immediately replaced by wide eyes and flustered expressions.

Suddenly, all she could see was crystal blue, and a rush of heat, with an unknown source, painted her entire body in warm hues.

She could feel her head-fins flutter from de shock, and just as fast they shot up in their stance, the translucent structures completely stretched out in the bright light, leaving the bashful-looking mermaid blushing madly.

The boy, on the other hand, seemed to be able of recovering slightly faster, and the stunned look on his face quickly morphed into an amused smirk, mischief making his eyes gleam in a special kind of way.

And before the girl even had the chance to react, a cool brush of lips was left on the very tip of her nose, causing a shiver to cross her immersed body.

In the blink of an eye, the boy was already innocently pacing in the rocks ahead, looking as oblivious as he could muster. But that grin, however, filled with mirth and a naughty delight, couldn’t help but play in his lips, the soft shade of pink that dusted both his hears and cheeks being the only trace left of his improper gesture.

Well, that and the flustered mermaid he left behind, tinged in an impossible shade of crimson, eyes just as wide as they could be. Toothiana just stood there, blinking her huge eyelashes twice, gaze stuck in no specific point of the agitated waters that splashed against the bare rocks in which the boy roamed. And his own gaze never left her dumbfounded expression either, piercing blue irises staring at the girl that stood in the sea below.

A low chuckle shook his chest, and, as if the sound had awakened her, Tooth’s reddened body morphed into the colors of the surrounding environment. And with a shy smile and ever-flushed cheeks, the mermaid’s wish to disappear right then and there, was partially fulfilled.

Although this time, the boy allowed himself to laugh full-heartily at the girl’s reactions, loving the way her entire body would respond to each emotion.

It amused him immensely.

But just as he was about to go look for her, a sudden wave of cold salty water engulfed his entire being, soaking Jack’s fresh summer cloths until they were nothing but a thin sheet of almost transparent linen clinging to his drenched torso.

He immediately started coughing out the salty liquid, and it was with dripping arms wide stretched to both his sides, and equally sopping bangs clung to his brow, that his shocked eyes lifted slowly, catching sight of the laughing mermaid ahead.

She giggled so hard that one of her slim arms was wrapped desperately around her midsection, gills fluttering madly.

Jack got frightened at first; he has never seen her body shake so much since she almost suffocated, when he had left her to her own fate on the beach sand.

But when the nearly angelic sound of her laughter reached his hears, he understood that she was not even close to be dying. 

In fact, in his still soaked form, frozen in place by the mere surprise of the action, Jack found himself smiling as well, absolutely overwhelmed by the other’s elation.

"Ok, I guess we’re even…" he ended up stating, making the girl’s joyful giggles fade slightly.

"That’s what you get for mocking a mermaid." Toothiana mirthfully replied, raising an eyebrow, her usual coloration back to her skin.

The sun glowed brightly, warming their smiling features just as much as their heated hearts would.

"So…" the boy started, beaconing the mermaid’s attention, causing the girl to swim closer, until she rested, with both arms crossed hoisting her weight, on the hot rocks.

He then proceeded to remove the wet cloth from his body, squeezing the salty water out of it. Next, he laid it in an exposed rock, leaving the rest of the drying job for the sun itself.

With an anticipating smirk he turned back to the mermaid, hands proudly set on his waist, pale skin glowing brightly in the midday light.

He wanted to tease her, to bring any sort of reaction out of her, to leave “young Toothiana” completely flustered again, before the sight of a man’s half naked body. As stated before, the relative intimacy that grew between them, allowed the boy to feel comfortable enough to have fun just by seeing her head-fins shot up in the air, or her entire complexion change to a different kind of color.

Either way, whatever he was waiting for didn’t happen, as the mermaid’s features remained just as peaceful as before, violet irises staring directly at his own expecting ones, completely ignoring his bare chest.

"Well, go on!" she pushed, unaware of the reason of such dramatic pause.

The boy’s mouth hung open for a second, as he struggled to recover his train of thought. Meanwhile, it was his _own_ _conscience_ who mocked him: _Why would she care if you’re wearing clothes or not? Haven’t you notice: she is pretty much naked all the time!_

The thought made his face heat up again, and Jack shook his head mightily, as if the gesture itself would shake the image away.

"I… I was going to ask you if you are hungry already." he stuttered, focusing his attention on Tooth’s face once more.

A smile graced the girl’s pinkish lips, and with that she nodded.

…

..

.

"So… we have some rabbit stew, with cabbages and carrots…. There is some bread and sheep cheese." the droned mutters kept coming out, as the now-not-so-flushed shepherd continued to remove the goods that he had previously placed in the wide square of fabric.

"Oh, look, I also brought some milk, if you want to try! And of course, water." he finished, flashing a quick smile to the curious mermaid, whose eagerness to see such strange products had made her lean closer in her elbows, bringing her body slightly out of water. Thankfully the tide was coming up, and soon she wouldn’t have to make such effort while supporting her tail’s weight.

Jack looked through all the displayed edibles with a pleased smile plastered on his face. He had successfully managed to pilfer all this amount of food without his mum questioning anything.

Lately, and due to the heavy cloud of sorrow that seemed to hover the family, the boy had been excused a day out, so he could ramble around, all by himself, without the weight of reality to pin down his previously lighthearted nature.

His wise mother saw this as the only way not to lose both her children, because she knew, with all her heart: if she tried to hold Jack there with her, in the climate of sadness that persisted in submerging the house, he would end up drowning as well…

So, the boy was given permission to every Sunday, be free from all his responsibilities. And it was with nothing more than a farewell that his dear mother saw her only child run away, with just enough food for an entire day.

Now, here at the sunny bay, the young shepherd blinked the foggy daze out of his eyes, staring instead at the struggling creature below him.

With wide eyes and perched torso, Toothiana had begun to lift one arm, trying to reach the food the boy had carefully displayed. But before her fingertips could even touch a gleaming apple, her hand was gently slapped away.

"Oh no, my darling!" the boy elegantly stated, making his voice come out with a strange accent, shaking his head with a chin held up high. And he truly had to resist and keep his act going, when he saw the pouting face of the girl before him.

Jack then laid on his belly, head held between his pale palms, staring directly at her, with faces inches apart.  Afterwards, with a smirk tugging his thin lips, he stretched a slim finger and poked the mermaid’s nose.

"Now, my fair lady, if you wish to taste my food…" he continued with a smile on his voice and a twinkle of teasing in his eyes.  "… you ought to give something in return."

He then took back his finger from her wet nose, and saw with an amused grin as rosy shade blossomed in the girl´s cheeks. But this time, she recovered faster, and mirroring him with a playful smile of her own, Toothiana tilted her head questioningly.

"And what would the payback be?"

And as the teasing in her dulcet voice reached his hears, the boy brought a finger to his jaw, tapping it thoughtfully.

His crystal-blue irises left hers for the first time in what seemed like ages, as he pretended to stare ahead in deep contemplation.

"Hum… Let me see…"


	9. Fishing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've started writing this fic a while ago, that's why there are so many updates, but I've been reading the chapters looking for misspelling, but I'm tired and I think I'll just post them.  
> So, from now on, dialog will be signalized like it is in my native language (because it is how I've written it in the first place). I hope this doesn't cause too much trouble to you readers, but if it does please let me know and I'll change it.

IX

The wavy surface of the water shimmered brightly under the sun’s glow, the deep blue of the ocean itself concealing whatever great battle dwelt below. For the expectant boy, it was left for his own imagination to picture. But it must be exciting for sure!

As he sat on the heated rocks, facing the big blue ahead, his cerulean irises scanned the quite surface, waiting for something to happen, something which would give him a clue of what swam underwater. 

This could be quite boring, actually… But again, Tooth had warned him about it.

When she asked what would she have to do to be given the chance to taste the upper-world’s food, he pretended to delay on his reply, although he had known the answer from the beginning.

So, it was with a smug look that he had declared that he wished to know in what consisted her own meals.

Tooth seemed reluctant, since, as she had stated, it would take her too much time, and the poor boy might became bored… Oh, he had known right away what her true motives were! She was eager to eat his food, and didn’t want to bother to go fetch something for the trade.

Well, now he knew that she was probably telling the truth…

One of the things he came to realize while enjoying the girl’s company, was that mermaids were pure and honest creatures, much purer than a lot of men he knew. And well, if not all the mermaids had these characteristics, Tooth had them for sure. In fact, he would have to confess, Toothiana was one of the most _wonderful_ beings he had the bliss of knowing. She was innocent and curious, she had wits and a strong will. She meant happiness and light, and he didn’t knew what he would have become if he had never decided to chase the mysterious beast.

Thinking about the day he met her brought memories of a hatred-filled past. And this sudden flash of reality made his brow cringe and his eyes grow dark.

Yes, his whole life, back home, has been quite hard, as if the grief itself was too stubborn to realize there was nothing left to be done. The misery too blind to see that sadness wouldn’t bring her back. Nothing would.

She was gone… forever.

Jack felt his eyes becoming as flooded as the ocean in front of him, so, it was with a mute quietness, that he let the last bits of sorrow gently drip from his core. And as they joined the great mass of water, and the waves washed them away, the shepherd couldn’t help but smile peacefully. Even the wind came to calm him, drying the tears, cooling his cheeks with a gentle kiss. For the boy, there was no better balm…

Jack´s weighting heart was suddenly relieved from all its previous pressure.

The ambiance back home… well, let’s just say it has not been very easy to endure. But the boy didn’t want to think about it! It was of no use! Forgetting or pretending it wasn’t real was easier. Because the frustration that flooded his life lately, that one feeling that made him feel trapped and exposed to whatever life threw at his face, would slowly turn into hatred.

And if he let it happen, if he allowed his heart to be contaminated by this nasty feeling, then, in that moment, he would truly lose her, and everything she meant. If he let the rage consume him, that sparkle of Emma that still existed within him, would vanish, forever.

Jack had realized this recently. And thankfully he had gained conscience of such an important truth. He had been letting his heart slowly freeze over, too blind to even see it.

And Tooth was the one responsible for opening up his eyes. She gave him that needed pause, that brief stop in time that allowed him take a deep breath and look inside himself, only to realize what was truly important.

She gave him hope.

And for that, he would always be grateful.

The sun continued toasting whatever unguarded creature that wasn’t smart enough to hide from his merciless rays. And Jack was one of those creatures.

He could hear the balm-crickets whizzing loudly from behind, shouting their unmelodic symphonies to each other. And the deafening noise only made Jack yearn for the sea even more; at least there would be silence underwater…

_And gosh, it was so hot…_

The waves crashed just before his feet, teasingly spraying clouds of foam towards the heated boy, though the wetness was never quite enough to fight the high temperatures of the rays.

It would feel so good, just to bath in that invigorating coolness, to swim, feeling light and free once more!

However, the boy eyed the mass of water ahead of him with a now instinctive wariness.

The sea had taken everything from him without a single drop of remorse.

 Jack hadn’t quite understood why would this moody giant betray the young shepherd’s trust, crushing his carefree nature in such a destroying way. Life made unexpected twists, leaving its characters to witness and accept whatever the tides of fate brought to them.

And the boy hadn’t yet accepted it. It was all too recent, the dread too fresh. He couldn’t get himself to simply forgive the ocean, that traitorous being that stabbed him in the back.

Sometimes, a part of him would quietly whisper that the sea wasn’t the one to blame, and that responsibility laid on someone else’s shoulders: the lean one’s of a careless boy, who thought himself smart enough to disrespect the unpredictability of the ocean.

But he would always shoo such thoughts away, the guilt that dripped from them was too much for him to handle.

So his mind quickly returned to the call of the water, and he wondered, just for a second, if Tooth wasn’t some kind of apologize for what had been done. The thought amused him immensely.

…

..

.

In the quietness of the underwater world, a frustrated growl echoed through the liquid environment. Toothiana dug her nails harder, teeth clenched from the effort, as she pushed the bend of her tail hard against the rocks, giving everything she could into plucking out those stubborn mussels from the walls they held dearly onto. With a last pull, they finally gave up, and the mermaid found herself being projected into the open waters behind her, tumbling over herself once or twice.

Checking out the area surrounding her, Tooth gave a triumphant giggle, and quickly shoved the mollusk into a net-made sack she always brought with her. Then, taking off swimming as swiftly as she could, the mermaid went searching for something more… substantial, for their lunch.

While looking for a prey, her mind couldn’t avoid but recall the moments that followed the boy’s request…

...

When Jack proclaimed he also wished to taste some of her own food, Toothiana showed herself rather annoyed. She wanted to eat those strange things he had brought, so much different from what she was used. But seeing his pouting face, Tooth could only sigh in defeat.

But as quickly as she accepted this, the mermaid was immediately overwhelmed by a strange excitement, and with a happy eagerness in her eyes, she went for the boy’s hand.

\- Do you want to watch? – her orbs gleamed with the mere thought of sharing her own world with him, and she tugged him towards the water.

And the shepherd kept chuckling amusedly at her enthusiasm, letting his big white palm being pulled by both her petit wet ones.

But as soon as Jack’s fingertips grazed the cold liquid, he seemed to snap out of some kind of spell, and his eyes grew dark as they widened. His hand was abruptly snatched from her hold, a single chocked gasp leaving their lungs in unison. 

Toothiana’s wide orbs searched for his immediately, trying to distinguish some clue that would justify this behavior, in his now clouded irises. It was as if the mermaid could see the turmoil of dread that dealt below, and the vision made her grimace.

She watched, with a mix of worry and confusion, as the boy clumsily draw himself backwards, retreating to the inner parts of the rock he had been laying on, as far from the mermaid as possible.

The girl, on the other hand, looked away, embarrassed, lowering her saddening irises to the water around her. She couldn’t help but lift her hands from under water, staring discreetly at the glossy palms. Toothiana frowned, lips apart as she tasted some of the air.

_Maybe it was her touch that disgusted him in such a revolting way…_

Her head-fins lowered in their stance, coming down because of the heartbreaking realization.

Jack, who had been trying to get a grip on himself again, his mind chiding him for such a display of utter terror, looked up suddenly, gazing the mermaid, ready to spill out some kind of quick excuse for his reaction.

But seeing her there, staring with _that look_ at her own hands caused something inside of him to crack.

And, like an electric shock had made him jump into action, he suddenly got to his knees, and gripped her held up hands fiercely, as if the mere sight of the thought that run through her head in that moment enraged him in a maddening way.

When Toothiana’s violet orbs met his, widened by shock and a hint of fright, the boy’s features softened immediately, loosening the tight grip in which he held her hands. Jack himself was lost of words, surprised by his own hastiness. And as his eyes settled in their held hands, he noticed the thumb that had been unconsciously stroking her soft skin, and let go of her with an infuriating rush of heat to his face.

The mermaid’s wary gaze followed all this succession of actions, and when finally his warm grasp left hers, leaving a strange tingling feeling just below her skin, and she took notice of the uncharacteristically strong shade of crimson that tinged his cheeks, did Toothiana realized – with a gasp of pure relief, might I add – that the boy hadn’t jerk back due to repulsion towards herself.  

Immediately, a light tug was felt on the corner of her lips and a quiet gentleness filled her eyes.

Jack, on the other hand, diverted his irises shamefully, and took a deep breath before he muttered just high enough for her to hear:

\- I… I don’t- I can’t go with you…

The mermaid’s head tilted slightly, and she swam just a little closer, resting her arms on the rock.

\- You… - she started, but then spoke as softly as she could muster. – You can’t swim?

\- Of course I can! – the other stated with such an indignant cry, eyes snapping immediately towards her own, that Tooth had to fight hard not to laugh at his reaction. He then calmed himself again, and continued softly. – I just… don’t want to.

He lifted his orbs again, blue gazing violet with such need for understanding, that the mermaid saw herself with no more to do but to nod with a tender smile, and silently answer his wishes.

...

Toothiana seemed to jerk awake as a sudden flash of silver crossed her way, bringing her back from the pool of memories and thoughts. She still didn’t know what to make up from all of this, but she knew that in time, if he was willing to collaborate, all would be as clear as spring water.

So it was with a peaceful resolution that the mermaid launched herself in pursuit of their silvery lunch.

...

..

.

The boy huffed in a lazy tedium, the heat and the monotony making every bit of him want simultaneously to fall into a deep slumber and wake up from this bored state.

_What can take so long? Did she go fishing codfish in Norway or what?_

His eyes wandered languidly in the glittering surface, the rhythmic crash of waves being the best lullaby he had ever heard.

_Well, except for that one melody Tooth sang when I first met her..._ , his sleepy mind couldn’t avoid commenting. Thinking of that, he might just ask Tooth to sing for him again...

The cerulean irises had stopped in some point in the vast ocean, eyelids coming half the way down, when suddenly a swift movement jolted him with life once more.

And suddenly, just ahead of him, a big body jumped out of water, a cloak of sparkling droplets of water following her movements. Some months before, the young shepherd might have thought it was a playful dolphin, showing of its acrobatic skills.

But just as the ringing of laughter, in everything identical to the joyful cries of this specific mammal, reached the boy’s hears, he couldn’t help but jump to his feet, a huge toothy smile displayed proudly on his face.

Jack saw in awe as the mermaid hovered for just a second, that brief moment of pause before her form and the water surrounding her, were reclaimed back by gravity. And in that magical moment frozen in time, it was as if the liquid and the sun played together to create a beautiful display of light and color.

But then, the universe restored its usual flow, and Tooth gracefully dove back into the ocean. In the blink of an eye, the boy could see her colorful body coming in his direction, and he kneeled close to the water, waiting with an enthusiastic gleam in his eyes.

Her face broke the surface first, a pleased smile adorning her features. Then, her lean arms came out as well, dripping on the burning rock, and she carelessly threw the net sack in the boy’s direction.

Impatient as he was, his fingers quickly found their way into the bag, prying it open. He removed the bits of seaweed with an eagerness appropriated to a person who has been roasting up in the unforgiving sun for almost an hour, and was with wide eyes that he spotted the best looking mussels he has ever seen. Not even the best fishermen from his village were able of finding some of those!

But before he could say anything, a thump was heard and the shepherd caught sight of the huge sparkling fish before him. It was big and healthy, as fresh as it could be, and Jack was sure it made up a good fight. His mind wondered just for a second, trying to picture sweet looking Tooth hunting a mighty animal like this...

His orbs flickered back to her face with a look of bewilderment, mouth partially open. She simply smiled in return, still slightly out of breath, but he could see that she was proud of the achievement.

With nothing more to add in his surprised state, Jack made himself gaze the fishing that laid at his knees, and what he said next escaped in a chocked mutter.

\- I’ll... I’ll light the fire.

But in response, the mermaid’s head cocked curiously, as she tried to come even closer.

\- Fire?


	10. Chapter 10

X

The delicious aroma of the roasting fish completely invaded his nostrils, and his mouth began salivating. The only thing that filled the silence, besides the ocean’s constant lullaby, was the cracking of the modest bonfire that warmed the area around them.

Jack had purposely tried to place it as close to the water as possible, so Tooth could see it in its entire splendor. It had been a nightmare, just to make the rotten wood catch fire. But it was worth the effort, as the timid flame licked the humid logs and the mermaid’s stunned gasp filled the air.

“It is like a baby Sun”, she had whispered in her amazement. Just for a second her awed gaze had turned towards him, fire dancing in the marveled orbs, and there was such a naïve wonder in them, such a pure happiness, that the boy couldn’t have helped but to be contaminated by it.

So he had laughed and chuckled, and slapped her prying fingers away when they tried to grasp the flickering flame.

Now, the initial giddiness had been replaced by a quieter form of admiration, and the pair had remained silent, eyes leisurely settled on the dancing lights.

The mermaid rested with both her arms laid on the slippery rock, and sighed in contentment. Sometimes, a sparkle of green and blue would dance among the other flames, making the moment even more extraordinary.

Between the both of them, the boy was the one who got more amazed by those ephemeral flickers, strange as it would seem. But it was understandable, because if you think about it, Tooth though all kinds of fire looked like this.

Later that day, Jack would come to discover that those fleeting flames, colored in hues of navy-blue, turquoise and emerald, were nothing more nothing less than the salt in which the burning wood was imbibed. Apparently the substance made those much traveled logs, sigh the last memories of the color’s of sea that had once been their home. 

The sun was low again, when their meal was finished, though they could not know, as the sky had been completely covered in a dense, dark blanket.

The young shepherd’s belly was pleased and full, thought it still hurt a little. Not because of such grand quantity of food, no... A young man can take much more than that!

However, all his abdominal muscles were sore from laughing so much. Even his face hurt, from the ever present smiles! The truth is, it was simply impossible not to laugh at Tooth’s reactions.

Every bite she gave, every single one, and her eyes would widen and a new response would come.

Sometimes she would scrunch her nose at the strangeness of the taste, or move her jaw awkwardly, as if she didn’t know how to chew at all. Other times she would just close her eyes in bliss and moan softly, inadvertently making odd shivers cross the boy’s body, as if he was reacting to the sound.

But it was mainly laughter and joy, as Jack was obligated to give incessant information about every single thing he had brought. It almost didn’t allow him the time to eat, but the mermaid’s curiosity was simply infinite.

Caught in this specific situation, Jack was given the opportunity to study the mermaid before him with a keener eye. Specially her teething.

Tooth had in fact a different kind of teeth. He had never got the chance to notice before, and thinking about it now, it had its reasonable motive: Toothiana _never_ smiled with her teeth. And the boy had learned this in a rather curious episode.

...

It had happened in one of their first meetings, back when they were all flustered and shy.

By accident, Jack had been gazing the mermaid with a look of pure fascination, and a both genuine and open smile had suddenly flourished on his always gloomy face. And much to his surprise, the unconscious gesture was greeted with a quiet hiss, and though the snarl was low and reverberating, there was an unmistakable warning lingering on its surface, accompanied by a shocking ferociousness.

The joyful beam instantly vanished from the shepherd’s features, and he was left with both a look of utter confusion in his eyes and a gelid dread that tensed his body, caused by the sudden change of the creature before him.

\- What? – the trembling fear in her melodious voice seemed to cut through the tension built between the pair.

It had sounded almost like a whisper, both quiet and hesitant, but there was a certain bitterness within her voice, that seemed to contaminate her usual sweetness. Jack then noticed that the mermaid had moved back almost a meter, away from his reach, as if she was the one being threatened, as if he was the one who had savagely snarled and not her.

This only made the boy frown even more. In his complete puzzlement he simply echoed her inquiry:

\- What?

And left with silence as his only answer, he got up to his feet, his growing irritation making his voice come out harsh and bitter, in much of a snarl as she had done before.

\- What do you mean, what? What have I done?

And all the hostility seemed to shake the air around them, making the mermaid’s petit form tremble under such enraged creature.

But then suddenly he seemed to snap awake from a dream, at the sight of the fearful eyes that stared back at him, and his legs collapsed under the weight of his body, as he saw the monster reflected in her star-filled irises.

And there he stayed for some time, kneeled with his head low and miserable, the shame making his back yield under the pressure. A whisper was all that was able of leaving his lungs, and it sounded so much like a last breath that the mermaid couldn’t help but be terrified.

\- Sorry... – he simply said, glancing up from between his locks.

The boy couldn’t help but be taken aback by the sight of Tooth’s face just under his, trying to peek at his expression, in an inexperienced effort of gentle consolation.

But Jack only laughed, truly surprising himself by his apparent easiness in what regards violation of one’s personal space, because in the end he didn’t move back an inch.

Instead, it was the mermaid the one to straighten up again, obligating the boy to lift his head so he could keep the eye contact. On her heart-shaped face he found a smile, small but tender, with a speck of a shy hesitancy giving it a special glow.

Tooth on the other hand, was caught up in the vastness of his cobalt irises, for the second time losing herself in that pair of private oceans.  Suddenly a flash of white appeared in her line of vision, and her own orbs where immediately called towards it.

There it was again, in all its splendor, as it had been some minutes ago, before all that fuss was made. Jack’s teeth, perfectly aligned, glistened with a special kind of charm, which made a new passion rise within the mermaid. Her admiration for the human teething...

But now, as she saw the boy showing his teeth to her once again, she didn’t see the aggression behind such gesture. It was impossible. No, there was no hostility or warning. Not with his eyes looking at her like _that_.

So this time, Tooth could not see angry mermaids clenching their teeth with a vicious hiss. She could not see the meaning the body language she was taught told her to see.

So as it was, the girl could only laugh to herself at the unnecessary misunderstanding. After all, it was not her fault humans had such strange ways of acting and communicating.

Who in their right mind, would think that baring their teeth to someone was a sign of contentment? 

_Oh, these humans..._

...

..

.

Tooth sighed again, in a quiet bliss. A gentle smile would not leave her features, as she rested, head laid on her crossed arms, part of her torso perched on the rocks, just enough to keep her lower gills underwater.

All that was heard was the crack of the dying embers and the sea’s lullaby. There was something more there, just below the lulling melody of the water and fire combined.

Oh, and how much more peaceful it was, calming her in her sleepiness.

The regular inhaling and exhalation of a powerful set of lungs nearby, was the most tranquilizing sound she had ever had the luck of finding.

Her stomach completely full, with such a wide range of new kinds of food, the tender warmth of the dying fire caressing her arms, and the rhythmic breathing of the resting boy, who had crawled closer to the bonfire in search of the gentle heat, all of this was enough to make her believe she had found some kind of heaven... Even the sun had spared her from his unmerciful blaze, now completely hidden behind the thick mantle of clouds.

Everything was just perfect. A perfect peace...

It was in that moment that a bright flash enlightened the skies, and a rumble so loud and so deep ran through the air, shaking them to their until-now serene cores.

The quietness was over.

It is time for the storm to come...

 


	11. The Storm

XI

It suddenly seemed as if the sky had collapsed on itself, somewhere in the distance.

Both their heads snapped in unison towards the origin of the mighty sound, Tooth absently registering as the sleepy boy beside her nearly jumped out of his skin, tore away from such a peaceful slumber this violently.

A crack of light split the sky in two, and again, a blink of an eye latter, it was as if everything around them shook, the powerful noise making their own cores tremble.

Tooth just stood there, completely petrified, eyes wide and chest panting. There was another bright flash and she felt her pupils shrank immensely, until she was sure they were nothing but a pair of dark slits in an ocean of pink.

In any other circumstance she would have flee already, now miles away in the depths of the ocean, keeping her sensitive hearing away from such deafening rumbles and her susceptible eyes safe from this mysterious shattering of the sky itself.

But once again, that curious pull within her, seemed to unwisely overcome her primal instinct of self conservation. Besides, she was constantly aware of Jack’s presence right next to her, and the human boy didn’t seem alarmed, apart from the expected shock from such a sudden awakening.

With a last glance to the nearby shepherd, the mermaid was reassured with a small smile, just a hint of amusement in the curl of his lips, caused by her utterly stunned expression.

So her shoulders relaxed just the slightest, and she tried to enjoy the show, as another blinding bright branch of pure light spread through the air, reaching for the horizon. It disappeared as soon as it touched the dark ocean’s surface, far away.

Her breathing was still uneven, but it was not totally due to the fright anymore. The mermaid’s fluttering heart couldn’t help but quiver slightly.

It was _wonderful_... Thought in the absolute state of pure admiration in which she was imbibed, she felt as if the word “wonderful” was an understatement, not even close enough to describe the overwhelming beauty of it all.

The sudden flashes would highlight the darkened ocean, making the foaming waves glisten with a glow of their own. Wet rocks all around them, whipped by the increasingly agitated sea, flickered white in synchrony with the crumble of the sky.

Tooth’s grip on the rock tightened, as the currents kept pushing her immerged body back and forward.

Still, she couldn’t tear her yet wide eyes away from the shady skies, watching closely as the dense bellies of the mantle of clouds glowed with each bright flash, the mermaid’s pupils in a strange dance of shrinking and dilating, between each second of complete darkness and new white light.     

...

..

.

Jack, who until now had been paying attention to the sight before him, a nonchalant smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, grew bored of the raging storm, and decided to focus on the bewildered mermaid instead.

And what a much more interesting view she was!

The boy had witnessed loads of amazing storms in the course of his not so long life, some without the thrilling presence of lightning and thunder, others so powerful he thought the skies would collapse on themselves and the pure fabric of the universe may rip apart.

But with all of this in mind, in that single moment, as he gazed the mermaid right beside him, the boy felt as if nothing would ever overcome the beauty of Tooth’s awed face, illuminated by the bright flashes of white.

Her almost iridescent scales would glitter like a rainbow of greens and blues – he had come to realize those hues might be her natural coloration.

The boy noticed her head-fins flutter, popping up every time a thunder broke the air around them, her chest panting in absolute wonder and bliss.  

He watched as her star-filled orbs tried to take it all in, an insatiable thirst for magic making them sparkle with a light of their own.

Either way, magic was certainly what was happening right now, and the moment could only be described as something from another world. And well, for the amazed mermaid, it kind of was...

It was with a mesmerized eagerness that Toothiana tried to commit it all to memory, so that maybe, just maybe, a part of the wonder felt could forever remain within her.

In the boy’s opinion however, more and more aware of the alarming fondness he was developing for a half-fish girl, she was the wonder herself...

...

..

.

After their unforgettable afternoon, filled with breathtaking events, it started raining. Hard.

The first drops of liquid life came falling as they waved their goodbyes, elated smiles plastered on their faces, as the happiness was too great to hide within their cores.

One towards the ocean, the other towards the land, the pair parted opposite directions, but not before the mermaid had arched her neck, overjoyed visage facing the clouded sky, and opened her mouth wide, pointy teeth peeking from underneath her pink lips.

Tooth allowed the falling droplets to splash on her flushed cheeks and extended tongue, and didn’t held back a giggle when she tasted the sweetness of the water, the pure absence of flavor being a fascinating change from the dense saltwater of her home.

Jack simply smiled, shaking his head with a chuckle, but with a now ever-present tender gleam that softened his gaze, soaked locks clinging to the boy’s forehead and drenched clothes wrapping around his lean limbs.

After that day, it would rain for an entire week, as if the bad weather wasn’t willing to give place to the approaching summer.

Tooth had come, as settled, a week later, bearing the bruises of an epic battle in her body, and the proud smile of her achievements in her face. She could hardly wait to tell the boy all about it! It had been quite a week:

As known to the general public, Toothiana always had this needy urge to be useful, to have a place in her ancient and noble society. And the fact that all of her peers seemed to inexplicably underestimate her capacities didn’t help at all.

So the relentless mermaid was left with plenty of free time and sparse supervision, and with her curios nature in the equation, it usually ended with her in all sorts of trouble.

But the biggest mess the mermaid could have ever put herself into, had become her greatest adventure: to know the Human world.

Everything had been alright so far, until The Listener had suddenly decided to comply with her oldest wishes, stating Toothiana had now the proper age to start her maturing process.

The young adventurer was suddenly condemned to spend her days learning her people’s ways, left with only a day a week to visit her recently made friend.

But she couldn’t just live her life in the eager wait for Sunday to come.

So Tooth tried to focus on the good things, in order to overcome the boredom of her daily life. In fact, she quite liked learning so much about the merpeople and she could hardly wait for her tests to come. And overcome all the challenges, her personal story would start being written in her still-blank tail.

Then she would be one of them, with her proper place in society, contributing for the well-being of the whole.

So that day, Toothiana was eager to show the boy her victories, impatiently swimming along their hidden bay with an excited smile plastered on her face.

However the young shepherd seemed to be testing her patience, and appeared only some time later, when the tide had almost retrieved completely and the sea was claiming the mermaid’s return.

But worst than his apparent lack of punctuality, was the dark somber that veiled his eyes. His feet stomped in the sandy ground with a badly contained anger, and Tooth felt her body cringe despite herself.

The boy before her was the enraged murder she first met, on the day he left her to die under the unforgiving sun.

He sat heavily on a rock, embracing his knees close to his chest, rocking back and forward. He was far more distant than he normally would – both physically and mental – face half hidden behind his legs, not even sparing her a look. And he stayed like that, silent, simply staring at the water with such intensity that the mermaid was always waiting for it to start to boil.

A deep frown was born in the girl’s face, as she tried to decipher the reasons behind his behavior. And as she searched for his eyes, she had to hold back a gasp at the angered turmoil that dealt within them.

\- Jack?

Her sweet voice came out so soft and hesitant that she didn’t even recognized it as her own.

But her quiet plea seemed to reach out to him, and his blue irises peaked out from behind his knees, noticeably softening at the sight of the worried Tooth, but not quite enough to totally expel the troubled look.

The mermaid swam closer, tilting her head just the slightest, trying to perch on the rock wetted both by rain and sea. She deeply desired to have the capacity of reaching out to him, so she could comfort him in some way...

The boy only sighted at the sight of her approaching form, and slowly came out of his shrunken position. Next, he proceeded on lying on his back, within the mermaid’s arm reach this time, as he absently stared at the clouded sky, hands crossed over his stomach. A new depressed sight escaped his lungs.

\- Tell me about your week, Tooth.

His deep, husky voice startled the mermaid for a second, and she couldn’t focus enough to give him a proper answer. So he started talking again, this time through gritted teeth, in a new wave of rage that seemed to have returned.

\- _Please!_ It can be about anything! Just... talk.

There was such a note of despair in his last words that the mermaid hurried to get her mind clear – shaking her head to produce the desired effect – and started in a serene voice.

\- I battled an octopus yesterday!

It was so unexpected that the boy couldn’t help but give a quick laugh, reverberating and refreshing, that seemed to illuminate everything around them. Tooth could only smile, as the boy grew quiet again, finally turning his head so he could face her.

\- Did you, now?

The mermaid nodded twice, and proceeded to show the circular reddened bruises all trough her arms, caused by the powerful suckers on the animal’s tentacles. In some places there were deeper cuts, clearly illustrating the damage those strong beaks of theirs could have on the mermaid’s skin. From the size of the wounds, the animal might have been mighty indeed...

\- Well, well, who would guess? Sweet, little Tooth fighting such a big beast... – he remarked with a smirk, as his fingers leisured just above her bruises. The mermaid in question held a proud smile on her face, while she happily let the boy carefully study her arms.

A part of her shivered slightly, as she felt the warmth irradiating from his body seeping into her cool skin, the ghost of his touch lingering there above her extended limbs. But mainly she was grateful she had been able of lightening up the mood, the previous turmoil temporarily expelled from his eyes.

\- Were you so starving you had to go and hunt an octopus, or were you just trying to have a little fun?

At this her arms swiftly left his grasp, and Jack lifted his orbs only to find the most utterly revolted look in the girl’s face.

-  To have a little fun? One doesn’t _kill_ for fun, Jack!

 - Come on! – he called, his voice sounding nonchalant, but there was a noticeable hint of despair in his tone, when he saw Tooth turn her back to him, as if the boy was afraid she might suddenly swim away. – You know I didn’t mean it like that!

But her iridescent form suddenly turned towards him, and the boy almost felt a sigh escape his lips. However, any relief he might have felt in that mere second, completely vanished when he laid eyes on her features.

The deepest frown he had ever seen on her sweet heart-shaped face, creased her scaly brow. Her petit shoulders were tense, hunched over, as if she was about to fall upon him, and her until now wide open irises were nothing more than a pair of glaring slits.

When her once melodious voice came out, it was heavily accusatory and bitter.

\- But you do that, don’t you?

But regardless of its harshness, Jack failed to notice the underlying pain on her question, as if she was personally hurt by the mere thought of the boy before her being one of those merciless creatures, one of those monsters she had been told all her life to get away from.

And the young shepherd was so taken aback by such a sudden change in her behavior that he couldn’t help but stutter.

\- What? I don’t… I don’t fish!

Now the boy stated it as if it was an excuse, a defense from her angry accusations. But Jack realized that for the first time, he encountered another person who wouldn’t look at him with pure disappointment in his eyes before such shameful affirmation. 

He was already a disgrace to his father, choosing the life of a shepherd so he could avoid dedicating it to the mighty sea. _But he didn’t understand. No one did…_

All this thoughts made a well known frustration built up inside him, making his eyes grow tumultuous and grey.

\- I _don’t_ fish.

He spit the word as if it was venom, but the reasons which made him do so were far different from the principles defended by the mermaid.

But the girl was back on charge.

\- Not you-you! You-humans! You say it as if it is natural to hurt another creature for your own amusement!

A pang of guilt unexpectedly made him stop, as if a sudden wave of conscience had washed over him, and he saw with astonishing clarity the hideous crime the mermaid was referring to.

But as fast as it had come, that swift notion of morals was once again subdued by his angered mood.

He furrowed his brow, glaring at the mermaid with slits instead of eyes, from his now sat position.

\- What’s the fuss all about! They’re just fish!

At this, Toothiana´s pinkish eyes suddenly widened, but quickly after, they morphed into a hard look, stern and frighteningly calm.

Her voice came out barely above a whisper, but it was so firm and unwavering, that it wouldn’t have had better effect if she had shouted.

\- And I am just a _mermaid_.

It was in the silence that followed that he came conscious of his own words, hearing them echo incessantly in the tense atmosphere surrounding them.

And he watched with eyes widening in horror, as her form, with her back turned to him, became more and more distant, chin held high and ready to disappear in the coolness of the ocean.

What Jack did next was so instinctive, that he barely had the time to register it.

He just felt as his leg muscles propelled him up, finally standing at his full height in the top of that rock, water sprinkling his bare feet. But as fast as he got up, he watched himself jump into the shallow waters, desperately chasing the mermaid.

And when his fingers encircled her glossy arm in an iron grip, earning him a sudden yelp from the girl as he turned her around to face him, he spoke, in an almost breathless, raspy voice.

\- You _know_ that’s not true.

With his eyes madly searching for her wide open ones, his voice came out so deep and fierce that he clearly felt the mermaid shiver under him. A small smirk invaded his lips, and he loosened his grip on her slim limb.

\- At least not for me! – he whispered, lowering his eyes.

But the mermaid seemed completely frozen in place, unable to react, just blink her still wide orbs with her pinkish lips slightly open.

The human boy sighted, nervously scratching the nape of his neck, and gave a humorless chuckle, his eyes flickering between her face and the water underneath.

\- We humans are quite some monsters, huh?

It was meant to be a humble apology, from him and his entire race.

And he was about to check if they were accepted or not, when he felt Tooth’s wet hands cup his face, and with a flick of her tail, she reached up to live a quick kiss on his forehead.

The mermaid felt the boy’s cheeks warm up immensely under her palms, and quickly brought them back down, as if she had been burnt.

Albeit unknown to her, the green and blue hues of her own coloration were now morphing into warmer shades of red.

She has no idea about what took her into doing it. There was no such way of showing affection in her society! But it felt like the natural thing to do. A clear way to show his apologies had been accepted.

So she simply faced a wide eyed Jack, and mumbled sheepishly:

\- I hope not all of them are…

 

* * *

If you want to see Tooth battling an octopus, check it out here [(x)](http://adam-anellaer.deviantart.com/art/Tooth-on-the-octopus-hunt-443183583) 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, are you all getting sick of all the sweet, lighthearted fluffiness? Don't worry, your sugar doses will come down! (but not totally disappear)


	12. Home (not really)

XXII  
A week earlier...   
The rain was pouring, cold and heavy, whipping against the boy’s cloak like small, albeit heavy, pebbles thrown from the revolving skies. But the young shepherd could only laugh at their futile attempt of bringing him down from his absolutely elated state. Nothing could turn down his inner joy that came bursting out in waves of laughter and long strides.   
Jack had run half the way, sometimes slipping in the now soaked grass. But he always managed to regain his balance with a bright chuckle and a frenetic wave of arms.   
Thunders roared now and then, devastating the sky above his dripping head with their core-shattering sound.   
He finally entered the village, bare feet splashing on recently formed puddles as he ran down the muddy street. There was no one to be seen, no living soul wanting to get drenched in the abundant rain. They were all tucked up inside their cozy little houses, preparing their scarce dinner – the wait for fish as been longer than ever – or calming their little children, who were probably hiding from the loud blast of the thunderstorm.  
Normally, Jack would take a glance at the docks, a frown deeply settled on his face, and mix of relief and worry would cloud both his heart and his ocean-blue eyes, as he saw no boat moored there. But today the rain was so violent and the delight in his heart was so great – thanks to the lovely afternoon spent with the lovely mermaid – that he couldn’t spoil such bliss by sparing the fishing boats’ safe harbor a look.  
So he headed directly towards his family house, settled down the road of a by-street, the yellowish glow coming of the steamy windows like his own lighthouse.  
The loud bleat of his heard, currently sheltered on their own petit stable, greeted him through the thunderstorm. Various pairs of eyes shone back at him, as a sudden lightening illuminated the surrounding area in a plain white flash, while the shepherd whispered soothing words to the agitated animals.   
He quickly got away though, and hurried his way inside. His mother was probably freaking out by now, and he would have to endure her pouring worry, risking not being let out so soon.  
\- Mum, I’m here already! – he shouted into the fire-warmed house, as he left the chaos of pouring water and raging thunders outside.   
\- And I know what you’ll say: yeah, yeah, I can’t be out ‘till night time... – he excused, while he quickly undressed his drenched cloak.  
\- But now I came...  
And what he was about to say got stuck in his throat, suddenly incredibly hoarse and dry. Therefore, what left his lips was not above a whisper.  
\- ... back....  
With widened cerulean eyes, almost sea green due to the warm glow of the fireplace, the lean boy paled even further.  
There, sat outspread in the rocking chair across the room, stood a broad figure, nothing more than a silhouette against the flames cracking behind him. He remained quiet, very still, a pair of cold blue irises staring back at the frozen boy through the darkness, like a predator waiting for the reaction of its surprised prey. And the silence prevailed, heavy, suffocating; and the chaos outside seemed suddenly much more inviting than the storm about to fall upon him.  
But then a lightning bolt gashed the skies outside their little house, and the bright flash illuminated the sat figure’s features in contrasting sharp angles. He seemed to glisten slightly, and the young shepherd concluded that he was probably as soaked as him. Maybe more even. With the time that man had spent in the sea, he was probably drenched with icy cold water until his very core.  
The boy seemed to snap awake, his eyes narrowing and arms crossing over his wet chest, almost protectively. With that, the figure got up from his resting position, as if he was waiting for the lad before him to man up and face him properly. But it was Jack who cut the thick silence first.  
\- So... you’re back.  
\- It seems I am.  
\- Where’s mum?  
\- Your mother’s in the kitchen. She wanted to give us some time to catch up... talk man to man.   
And the notorious way in which the large figure before him spat that last word, with a well-known smirk that frequently played in Jack’s lips, made the young shepherd glare from under his wet bangs.  
\- Do you still take care of your mother’s sheep, Jackson? Having fun, lazing throughout the fields?  
\- Someone needs to do it, father. – the boy snarled in response, dodging the man to hang his wet cloths near the blazing fire.   
But it wasn’t over yet. It never did. It was always the same talk, every time he returned from his blasted journeys. Ever since Em... well, their father became bitter and bitter, and all that acid only fuelled Jack’s anger towards him further more.  
\- Being a shepherd is a boy’s job! Do you want to be a boy forever?   
Now the teasing smirk had disappeared, replaced by an ever-present scowl, that splitted the older man’s forehead with a deep furrow. Jack stopped in his tracks, his back turned to the figure by the door, panting slightly under his breath.  
\- It’s time for you to man up and take over your responsibilities, to bring some income into the house! You can’t live partying around forever, like a worthless lad, doing nothing with your time! – the oldest man yelled in his deep accent, strong grip on the chair near him, knuckles turning white by the force exercised. Then he sighted deeply, and gazed the boy’s dripping back with a stern stare.  
\- Your mother has been forgiving you because of everything that happened...   
The fisherman’s irises turned fleetingly towards the ground, softening just the slightest. But just as fast as his eyes returned to the lad before him, the awaited hardness returned in full-force.  
\- But this has to be over. It was bad for everybody, but you can’t just use it to excus-  
\- Do you think I’m using it as an excuse? – Jack suddenly exclaimed, in an offended burst out, tearful eyes glaring towards the man with a black fire dwelling bellow. – So I can wander around, as if I were a drunken trump? Pretending that it affected me more...   
But the boy was so perplexed by the accusation that his previous yells died down to a mad mumbling. His mother had already came out of the kitchen, thanks to the yelling, and with one chiding look towards her husband, a soothing hand tried to reached out, in order to comfort her miserable son. But her warm touch seemed to only aggravate the situation.  
Jack, as triggered by the affection, snapped, slowly retrieving towards the door.  
\- YOU KNOW NOTHING! YOU HAVE NO IDEA W-WHAT I’VE BEEN THROUGH! – then his husky voice was no more than a sibilating snarl. – How DARE you?  
He put on his drenched cloak again, not caring a thing if it froze him to the bone or not, and opened the door to the pouring storm outside.  
But just before he ran away, his watery eyes turned towards his father, perforating the man’s speechless gape with the coldest glare Jack’s enraged heart could muster.   
\- I will never be a fisherman!   
...  
..  
.  
\- TOOTH!  
His voice was hushed by the still ranging storm, the rain splashing against his face as if attempting to dig gashes on his pale skin. The tumultuous dark waves splashed strongly against the steep walls of the cliff, down there, in the bottom of the precipice.   
The boy, more sopping wet than he would be if he took a death jump towards the ocean, tried one more time, with his throat so soar and raspy that he could swear that it was bleeding. But is soul was bleeding too, and those incessant tears hurt more than the walls of his esophagus.   
\- TOOTHIANA, COME HERE RIGHT NOW!  
And in the unanswered silence that followed, the boy hiccupped in despair.   
He slowly sat on the drenched grass, feeling the cold seep even deeper through his cloths, but he couldn’t care less. Rain splashing continuously on his leather cloak, the boy tried to disappear from this world, lost in the exasperating emptiness of his own mind, rocking back and forth in his stance.   
With knees brought close to his chest, he embraced himself into a tiny ball, like he had done countless nights before, following Emma’s disappearance. Like he had seen his little sister do so many times too, when the dark came in the creep of nighttime. It was a position from which he had saved her innumerable times, telling her stories and making her laugh even if frightened tears had already stained her rosy cheeks.   
Unfortunately, it seemed no one was ever there to save Jack himself...  
...  
..  
.  
The week that followed was of party and joy, as husbands, fathers and sons had finally returned home, mostly unharmed and with both a lot of fish to feed the modest village, and incredible stories of glorified heroes that dwelt on the Northern Seas.   
But for Jack, it was above all a nightmare. The only thing that shed any light over the sulking boy was his own mother’s happiness; the poor woman was finally at peace.   
It was a strange phenomenon: whenever his father left to his fishing journeys, uncertain of ever coming back, he always seemed to take his mother’s heart with him. She would worry, night and day, always glancing the tiny port through the thin glass of their kitchen windows. Of course she tried to hide it when she was with her son, but Jack could see right through the emptiness of her once warm orbs.   
Ever since Em went away, a ubiquitous light that used to color their dull lives had extinguished, once and for all, leaving a strange cold emptiness in all their hearts:   
His mother tried to fill it with a constant anxiety over her family, like they would disappear out of thin air, and that imprisonment made Jack restless and with even a greater need to get away;   
The young shepherd, as it should be, tried to fulfill the void with his constant runaways, long adventures out in the nature, without the human presence to remind him of the real world. Well, now he had Tooth; And what a blessing she was...   
The stern fisherman opted for something quite similar, even if both father and son disbelieved strongly that they were the slightest alike. His good old dad hided away in the sea, as odd as it seems, given the way of his little daughter’s departure from this world. But maybe it was the fact that, like Jack, it was a way for him to avoid his colorless life, and therefore, not needing to face all the weight that came with it accepting its reality.  
What Jack had said before was true. He had been the most affected of them all, even if his mother lost her sweet child and his father was never able of seeing his little girl became a beautiful woman.   
But venturing on such thoughts was a dangerous thing for the young man to do. He dismissed them during the day, lost in the routine of his tedious day-to-day life. Take sheep out, bring sheep home. It was all he ever did. A part of him whispered that maybe his father had a point, but Jack would quickly shoo it away, pretend he hadn’t heard it above the one big choice: he would NEVER be a fisherman!   
He practically lived up to reach the next Sunday, and that was certainly not healthy. Either way, it was better than risking that the tenebrous ghost that hunted his being might finally submerge him in a deathly sea of guilt.  
In the end, that little mermaid was the only good thing left in his life, the only light he had found to replace the hole left by Emma’s.   
So, has he thought about it all, after having thrown all his frustrations against the innocent girl, he thanked the heavens that the goodhearted creature had forgiven him. He wouldn’t bear to see her swim away forever...  
Because right now, Tooth was much more than an enjoyable company, much more than a distraction for his free day.  
In that moment he realized, with a mix of dread and confusion as he stared wide eyed at the smiling mermaid, that something had irreversibly changed in his life when he first laid his blue irises on her pinkish ones.  
Being with Toothiana had long surpassed the naive curiosity of the contact with a mysterious world.  
At this stake, with all the darkness that dwelt, waiting, in his heart, Jack needed the mermaid desperately...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like the little peek at Jack's world.


	13. The Siren's Song

XIII

\- He... he wants me to be like him...

Toothiana immediately peeked over her scaly shoulder, her eyes leaving the tunnels and holes where crab was hidden the minute his deep voice reached her hears. However, she did forget to retrieve her prying hands, and in that brief gap of attention from the hunting mermaid, one of her slim fingers was caught in a nipper’s strong hold.

 A pained shriek left the girl’s lips, a flash of red running through her glossy skin, as she shook her arm in the futile attempt of expelling the angry crustacean. And when the stubborn crab refused to let go, Toothiana decided to finally satisfy her hunger, and in one mighty bite, down the mermaid’s throat it went. She struggled a little at first, as she tried to swallow her too-crunchy snack. But after a few seconds she turned back to the boy, with the sweetest of smiles plastered up on her beaming face, and with a slight cough she quietly spoke.

\- Sorry what?

\- Humm... what? – stuttered the shepherd, finally leaving that dumfounded face and focusing on the conversation, blinking his eyes in order to get the desired effect. But as he remembered what they were talking about, his features became gloomy once more, his gaze lost in the sea ahead of him. – My... my father... – and he failed to notice the widening of her pinkish orbs, the minute the boy spoke of the family member.

Somewhere along the way, in one of their many talks, Jack had briefly referred to a certain ‘father’, an entity that the mermaid was completely ignorant about.

According to the boy, humans were born, like most of the animals, from a couple, a male and a female, being the latter his mother and the male progenitor his father.

A spiteful figure, from the way Jack talked about him, but still the supreme authority in his small family circle. And the fact that the older man had some kind of control over his son’s life drove Jack nuts.

On these last few days, Toothiana had come to the coast line more often, at the young man’s request, and frequently found herself in the need taming the violent storm that dwelt inside him. Their meetings would normally end with his forehead set on her wet shoulder, and her small palms rubbing circles on his back or caressing the soft locks of his hair.

Not that she minded giving comfort to the boy! Believe me, she didn’t mind _at all_! But... it pained her, to see him so worn out like this, so haunted, so broken...

Of course that most of the time he was all laughter and pesky smirks, all fun and no such thing as those serious grownup talks.

But in the end of the day, when the sun had already disappeared and it was time for them to go, she always saw it: the light fading from his eyes, the corners of his lips twitching down for the briefest seconds. And he already knew that there was no coming back, that he couldn’t fool her with a simple ‘It’s nothing’; because every time she opened her petit arms to him, the boy would willingly come, finally collapsing in her warm hold as the first stars started twinkling in the nightly sky.

And every time they parted, her tender heart cracked a little more. (She was the one that had to do it now; she was the one that needed to swim away, because the shepherd wouldn’t leave on his own...)

Leaving him there, in that ocean of constant torture and suffering, abandoning the boy like _that_ , was the worst thing the once innocent mermaid ever had to do...

...

..

.

The young man gulped, as if the words were too thick to easily roll of his tongue. His sapphire blue irises flickered towards the mythical being before him, as his explanation started.

\- My father... he wants me to be a fisherman, just like him.

The mermaid her head, colorful fins puffing a little. Her sweet voice hesitantly stammered the next few words.

\- And you don’t want to.  

It wasn’t a question, but the boy still scoffed in response, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and even suggesting otherwise would be personally offensive.

\- Of course not!

\- Why?

And in his mind this single truth was so certain, so intrinsically accepted by his rebel self that the Tooth’s question seemed to completely catch him by surprise.

It was strange, how such a simple question demanded for so complex answers.

Now, if the boy said that he wouldn’t do it because of the killing in which he was taking part, it would be a lie. And Jack had long understood that there was no use in being dishonest to the mermaid. So he opted for the plain easy, but in a way true, answer.

\- I don’t want to... – he muttered, like a sulking child. But Toothiana, arms crossed and frown settled, wouldn’t falter so easily.

\- Why?

And the young man snapped, jumping to his feet.

\- “Why, oh why”... _Because_! Why do you want to know this, all of sudden? Why do _you_ care? _Nobody_ does!

Panting, the shepherd stared at the mermaid, who hadn’t moved an inch, probably immune by now to his sudden explosions of rage. Her serene eyes didn’t leave his tense stance for a second, but her scowl quickly disappeared and her arms unfolded just as gently.

\- Because I do.

And it was so sincere, so undeniable, that the boy saw the flames of his anger suddenly go out, as if his own tired sigh had extinguish them. Sitting down again he proceeded, gaze heavily set on the gentle waves.

\- I don’t want to because it would a hell for me, to be stuck in a boat for half a month, going god knows were, with no certainty of returning. Do you imagine, what would be like being trapped in a nutshell, with nothing around you but an infinite blanked of water, with nowhere you can run to, no chance of escaping?

The boy panted already, as if the mere thought of being trapped like that suffocated him, as if he was starting to drown on his own despair.

Toothiana fixated him with big sad eyes, trying to figure out what the feeling would be. She could only remember the first time they met, when she was merciless cornered on that hidden bay. And the mermaid was about to lay a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder, when his next few words made her retreat with a pained expression.

\- _Besides, I hate the sea..._

Jack wasn’t looking at her, so he totally missed the mix of confusion and outrage that colored the girl’s visage.  But being wise as she was, Toothiana knew that it wasn’t the best choice to confront the shepherd with her indignation. Violence would only originate violence, so she calmed herself and tried to _understand_ him.

Swimming a little bit closer, glowing sun making her iridescent skin sparkle, Toothiana gently inquired.

\- Well, I don’t hate the land... What would the ocean do to earn your odium?

Her petit hand landed on his knee, and the soft gesture made the boy stare at her from under his bangs, with the most sorrowful eyes the mermaid had ever seen. She almost gasped, confronted with such immense pools of grieve. When he spoke, his voice was nothing above a whisper, breaking slightly in the end.

_\- I took my Em..._

And something told the girl that there was no greater explanation than that, and such guilt filled past ought not to be touched... not yet, at least.

With hung heads, they both let the silence weight on them, until Toothiana decided that it was enough, and the words started leaving her like an unstoppable torrent.

\- Would you like to be a fisherman, and go with your fathe-

\- I already told you-

\- _If_ it wasn’t for the sea... – she quickly interrupted his sulking mumbles, and at this the boy finally lifted his beautiful blue eyes to her, curiosity taking over. Toothiana sighted, and at last buried her own pinkish gaze deep into his curious one. Then she measured her next words more carefully.

\- If it wasn’t for your mistrust in the ocean, would you like to go?

Tooth continued to stare intensely at him, even when his cerulean orbs drifted away in deep thought. A minute passed, and his answer came out silent, like a secret confession that he wouldn’t dare to tell anyone.

_\- I... I just want to make him proud..._

And when his shy gaze slowly returned to the mermaid, he only found the sweetest of smiles, something tender making her eyes shine.

Biting her lip, Toothiana glanced with slight hesitancy to both the boy and the waves. But then, with a deep breath, the mermaid’s petit hands found the shepherd’s big ones, and started to softly pull the boy into the water.

\- What... what are you doing? – he started panicking, but Tooth shushed his fears with her quick reasoning.

\- If you want to end this tension between you and your father, you have to trust the sea again!

“And maybe he’ll become happy and playful like he used to be, before life broke his heart...” Toothiana hopefully wondered, with an enthusiastic smile upon her face. And for him to be happy was what the mermaid wished the most.

\- What? _No!_ – and he swiftly made his palm slip out of her excited grip. At this, Tooth locked eyes with him, and every trace of that buoyant attitude of hers disappeared like a footprint in the sand. The girl was dead serious.

\- You _do_ want to go, don’t you?

The boy’s crystal-blue gaze flickered doubtfully between her face and the extended glossy hand. And when his irises meet hers again, from under his bangs, a hopeful smile bloomed in Toothiana’s heart-shaped face. He hadn’t said “no” yet.

\- I... I want to help you, Jack. _To be happy again!_   – she started, and gently took his pale hand again. But before saying the next words, her brow slightly creased again. – If facing your fears is the way, then I’m here for you.

And before the boy could indignantly contest the word “fears”, the mermaid spoke again, with a nervous giggle.

\- And... you do trust me... don’t you? – but at the last few words, Jack noticed how her irises uncertainly meet his, how there was a certain shimmer of expectancy in her gaze, as if she really did need confirmation. And the young man willingly gave it, with a gentle smile and a brief nod.

\- I do.

With that said, the boy quickly took his light linen shirt, and started walking towards the mermaid, hissing slightly as the water reached higher and higher, its cool touch making goose-bumps sprout all over the shepherd’s skin.

But then he stopped, panting slightly, more from nervousness than from cold, and his wide orbs quickly found Tooth’s, staring nervously at the mermaid from under his bangs. However, the mermaid’s excitement was now in such high levels, that she couldn’t be serious about the whole situation anymore.

So she crossed her slim arms over her chest, a put up the smuggest expression she could muster. Jack had been the one to thought her such humanlike show of emotions, and seeing the mermaid imitating him was just hilarious.

\- I can always make you, you know.

And the boy visibly relaxed, and with an amused chuckle his eyes returned to hers. Only this time, there was a playful glint in them. 

\- Oh, I would love to see you try! – he said in a low, husky voice.

But Tooth’s half-smile only got wider and wider, all her membrane-like fins fluttering from the thrill. She then recalled those creepy stories that fisherman made up about merpeople, those Jack used to tell her, after the sun set, that either made her laugh or cringe in indignation.

\- Are you defying a mermaid’s ability to lure a man into the sea?

And the boy met her cocky pose with a wider smirk of his own, and continued to play his role in this little game of theirs.

\- Your charms no longer work on me, blasted creature!

Despite herself, Tooth broke the contained laughter and giggled freely at the last few words, making the boy smile even widely for coercing such wonderful sound to leave the girl’s gills.

But when her pink orbs caught his again, Jack’s smile faltered slightly. There was this unusual glow in the pink irises, and the smirk that stretched her lips clearly told that the mermaid was up to no good.

\- Will just see about that.

...

..

.

_What... what is this?_

There was this... _sound_... this astonishing sound, seeping into his ears, filling his entire soul in a warm, peaceful feeling. Was there something on this Earth or on others more soothing than this melody?

It made the pressure, that weight in his heart, _completely_ disappear.

There was no more grief, no more sorrow, no more fright, no more frustration, no more guilt, no more _nothing_...

_It made him forget._

He was... completely... at... _peace_... And what a wonderful feeling, _peace_ was... It was everything he ever searched for in his life, and now he got it.

He could taste it in the enveloping melody, like honey slipping on his tongue, like a flied of wild flowers close to the sea.

It was as pure as freshly fallen snow, that one that fell in the highest peaks.

It made him feel as free as the wind, as light as a snowflake.

The coolness of the water, the lulling splashing of the waves against his torso... was there _anything_ better in the whole world?

And as his dilated pupils softly wandered around, wondering what on heaven could be producing such magically freeing tune, he saw that there was in fact something _better_ in the world.

There before him, was a pair of huge pinkish seas, blinking back at him as if they held a thousand stars captive inside those irises. Now that he looked up-close, Jack had no doubt that there might be a whole universe contained in each one of those orbs. Those eyes alone showed a kind of sweetness, a tenderness that was quite rare in this mercilessly cruel world.

And the once guilt filled young man, believed in that very moment, that he could spend his eternity like this: gazing those irises, lulled by that impossibly soothing song.

But then, as abruptly as it had started, the melody ended, and Jack was painfully tossed back into reality, as if awakened from the most wonderful dream ever dreamt by a living soul.

 

As it was somehow supposed to, the first thing to kick in was his traumatized instinct of survival. So what the boy inevitably felt first, as he dazedly recovered his senses, was the cold wetness that surrounded his entire body, reaching dangerously high, with an undulating line circling his neck.

_Water... water everywhere..._

So it was with a strangled gasp, as if he was about to sink at any second, and a fluttering movement of arms and legs that he suddenly launched himself onto anything that he could hold. And in the vast emptiness of the ocean’s surface, that thing was Tooth.

The mermaid let out a surprised shriek, as the boy suddenly weighted down on her, both bodies briefly submerging in this cold water, until Toothiana recovered from the shock and her powerful fin kick them up back to the surface.

The panicked panting continued to wreck the boy’s chest, leaving him out of breath, dizzy and even more frightened. His impossibly wide orbs stared back at the calm, shimmering surface as if it was about to swallow him hole. And the notion that the sea could, in fact, do it, unsettled him even more.

It was Tooth’s soothing voice that came to his rescue again.

\- Jack, Jack... _easy_. I’m here, I won’t let you drown! – But the boy didn’t even remove his gaze from the undulating surface, as if frozen by fear. So the mermaid continued, softly trying to reason with him. – It’s all in your head, Jack. Don’t you see how far we’ve come? You swam this distance all by yourself!

And for the first time, the frightened shepherd dared to take his eyes from the threatening ocean, trying to focus instead on his surroundings.

She was right. The shore was a few dozens of meters away, just enough for the mermaid to take him back if it was necessary.

Jack didn’t dare trying to guess just how deep was the water, but what was the difference, anyway? Ten meters or a hundred meters: he would drown just the same.

But then something caught his eye, something moving in the depths under them. He was about to freak out again when he realized what it was: Tooth’s tail, powerfully sustaining both their weight up in the surface.

And it was then that he suddenly became conscious about what he was holding onto, and quickly let go, with mumbled apologies and a violent blush creeping all the way up to the tip of his ears.

His arms and legs could perfectly sustain him up by himself; _there was no need to panic!_ Well, he had always been an extraordinary swimmer, even when he was still a little child and his father took him on Sunday fishing trips, Jack would simply jump out of the swinging boat and wave his chubby members, swimming freely like a happy dog.

But Tooth called him back from his happy memories, all bubbly and excited again. It was understandable: she would finally show him _her_ world.

\- So, did the song work? 

From the look he gave her, the mermaid quickly realized it was a stupid question. But then, she seemed to become slightly hesitant, biting her lip, as if she wasn’t sure whether or not to ask the next few words. Jack missed all this shows of emotions, too concentrated on checking his levels of adrenaline. So, as if afraid of losing her courage, Tooth suddenly blurted out her doubts.

\- What did you see?

The boy only frowned in response.

\- What do you mean? – Was he supposed to see something? Was something wrong with him? The only thing his irises caught were her – I... I only saw you.

He tried to sound casual, eyes flickering back to the water surface again, hoping that the mermaid didn’t notice the new layer of red coloring his face.

\- Oh... – the mermaid sounded disappointed, frowning slightly as she turned around from him. – I guess I have to train harder...

\- Why? What are you supposed to see?

And the mermaid turned back to him, waving a hand dismissively, as if trying to hide her own discontent.

\- I suppose you see what you find most beautiful in the whole world. But maybe I sang it wrong, or something.

But when she finally examined him properly, her head tilted in a confused concern.

\- Jack, is everything alright? – she inquired, and them chided him, frown set on her face, as her irises took in his suddenly much redder complexion. – I think you got sun burnt again!

_\- Bloody song!_ – he mumbled under his breath, like an embarrassed sulking kid, and quickly dove into the salty water.

...

..

.

Oh, he definitely missed _this_... _this freedom of movement!_

It was the closest he would ever get to flying, and he couldn’t believe that he had been so long without coming down here.

The boy’s members pushed their way through the liquid environment, leaving behind a fluttering line of air bubbles that hurried its way up to the surface, like a thread of pearls shimmering in the sun.

Jack smiled, despite himself, strands of floating hair tickling his puffed out cheek.

He could see the bottom, a few meters under his hovering feet, where massive congregations of rock sprouted here and there, harboring all kinds of marine beings. His thirst for adventure returned in full power, making him want to explore every hole and every crack in those life filled reefs.

Suddenly, he heard the water rush behind him, and he quickly turned around, only to catch the brief sight of a blue tail disappearing from his field of vision. Then, something quickly passing by right underneath him.

He told himself that it was just the mermaid, messing up with him. Either way, the nervous chuckle that shook his chest, stole the last of his oxygen, so the shepherd swiftly pushed his way up to the surface.

He swam faster, and a part of him convinced that he was sensing a strangely large body coming after him. Jack tried to keep it cool, of course, but there was always this nagging fear that... and why on earth was the surface so far away?

Jack gasped, when he felt the smooth blanket of water tear apart and the warm air finally enveloping his face, the sun greeting him by blinking even brighter, it seemed.

The wide blue eyes took in his surroundings, partly searching for some fin breaking the gentle waves or a spray of water ascending to the skies.

But a part of him suddenly marked his worries as unimportant, and a radiant liquid joy filled every particle of his being.

_He made it... he was swimming again, here, out in the open sea!_

A toothy smile started madly stretching across his wet face, and with an uncontained yelp of ecstasy, the boy kicked his legs, propelling half his body out of the water, victorious fists raised high up in the air.

But his overjoyed celebrations were suddenly interrupted, as something jumped out of the water right beside him, splashing the salty liquid everywhere.

With a craned neck, his impossibly wide irises followed the iridescent creature as she arched in the air over his head, briefly blocking the blinding sun, sparkling droplets flying everywhere.

The mermaid graciously dove into the ocean again, causing much less of a mess than her sudden jump had created. Not a second had passed, when Tooth’s gleeful features broke the water’s surface, all her gleaming with excitement.

But she said nothing, and with an excited giggle she disappeared under the waves. It was all the invitation he needed to follow her into her world.

His blurry sight caught the sparkling form of the mermaid just ahead of him, and oh... how he wished he could see her properly. She flipped and twirled and looped with such gracefulness that the shepherd couldn’t help but smile. _If he could fly, he would do that too..._

Toothiana was next to him with a mere flick of her colorful tail. Jack could distinguish her perfectly delighted smile, even in the blurriness of this underwater environment. Tough seeing it was unnecessary. Jack could almost feel the happiness roll out of her in strange waves of warmth, seeping into his bones, into his frozen core.

She vanished as swiftly as she had appeared, and the boy felt a pure laugh trying to burst out of his chest. The mermaid’s attitude was adorable, and he cursed his lungs when they strongly demanded for air. To spend so much time without training can do that to his amazing respiratory capacity.   

Jack was almost reaching the surface, smile hitched on his lips, when a distant cry reached his ears, echoing through the water.

One might assume that it was just a bunch of whales, passing by. But to the haunted boy, such scream brought back a familiar wrenching pain.

He broke the water surface with a gasp, eyes desperately sweeping the waves, a mad part of him as if waiting to find her there, shouting for help... shouting for her brother.

_Em..._

He couldn’t help but twist quickly, the moment he heard the splashing behind him. And god... he could swear he had seen the maple brown of her tearful eyes, a flash of her soaked hair.

_Jack... I’m scared..._

Instead, he was violently confronted with the pure glee of a mermaid’s gaze.

And it felt _wrong_...

\- Did you hear that? – she breathlessly gasped, and swiftly disappeared under a wave, only to pop up again behind the boy, scrutinizing the horizon with her bright orbs.

The shepherd struggled to focus. But he felt a pang in his heart, as if the excitement lacing Tooth’s voice was utterly disrespectful towards his grief, towards his Em.

He chose to show none of this, concentrating in maintaining the conversation.

\- Were those really... – But the mermaid wouldn’t even let him finish, as she turned around, giggling and flaring this dancing rainbow of colors that waved all over her morphing skin.

\- _Come!_ – she hurried him, pulling him by the arm, her eyes snapping quickly from the frowning boy to the distant horizon.

But Tooth seemed to have forgotten his pulmonary condition, and without further warnings brought both her and the boy to the underwater world, trying to flick her tail as quickly as possible. They glided through the currents for a few startled seconds, all Jack could see were bubbles swirling past him.

But then his lungs started to burn, longing for the essential oxygen that lay over his head. So with one swift movement, the shepherd took out his hand from her thrilled hold, and urgently returned to the surface.

The mermaid followed him right away, slightly apologetic for her disregard towards her human friend. But when her fins shot up again, as she felt the vibrations in the water, that huge smile returning to her face and she spun towards the horizon.

\- It’s a mother and her calf! – she breathed, completely elated. – They are migrating! Wouldn’t it be nice to go say hello?

\- What?

\- They only pass here once a year! It’s a unique opportunity! – And then her eyes turned dreamy, and her innate curious nature kicked in again. – Oh, what we could learn with them! They could tell me all about the calm warm bays from the south!

 - What are you even saying? – the shepherd inquired, starting to feel irritated with all this fuss just about some passing whales. _She could certainly not talk to them... could she?_

He used to love them, you know; he used to love to see them pass, sitting with Em on the cliffs to find out who could spot one first. But he guessed that, like everything else related to his little sister, even the mighty whales had lost their sense of wonder.

\- Come on, they’ll go away!!! – Toothiana both begged and whined, seaming more like a little child than the wise mermaid he had come to know. – It will be so much _fun_!

At this the boy seemed to snap.

How could she be so bright and free and happy, when he was weighted down by his guilt, by his sorrow? How dare she laugh when he hadn’t laughed wholeheartedly since the loss of his sister?

Seeing so much joy, even if it came from Tooth, felt suddenly unbearable.

But worst of all, how does _he_ dare to feel such _happiness_ , how does he allow himself to enjoy _all this_ , when his own little sister couldn’t do the same _... because of him?_

Jack betrayed her... he betrayed Em by forgetting her, even for the slightest moments. No... he couldn’t allow himself, _wouldn’t_ allow himself! _Because it was all his fault..._

So he suddenly became bitter, angry at her, angry at the whales... but mainly angry at _himself_.

With a venom filled chuckle, the boy mocked her for her silly words and for her silly happiness.

\- Do you even hear yourself? We can’t go near the whales: they are wild beasts! Besides, we would never catch them!

\- They are neither _wild_ nor are they _beasts_! – replied an offended Toothiana, crossing her arms in indignation, chin lifted high up in the air. She wouldn’t dare to show how the change in his tone hurt her. – They are one of the wisest creatures of the ocean. 

She then submerged quickly, listening for a second, and when her fin-filled head broke the surface once more, there was an urgent look in her features.

 - Let’s go! – she urged, tugging his slippery hand again, hoping that this time he would comply.

_\- Leave me alone!_

His sudden bark made the mermaid jump away from him, as if the boy’s words had physically smacked her. She stared at him for god knows how long, eyes impossibly wide in horror, panting even, so was the shock.

But her hurt quickly gave place to a never seen fury.

All her fins fluttered madly, and she puffed out a fuming breath, clenched fists glued to her body. The mermaid’s skin now flared furious hues of red and black that waved across all her form, a violent blush tingeing her face. But it was _not_ due to embarrassment.

\-  We could reach them, you know? – Toothiana shouted, angrier than the shepherd had ever seen her. Her eyes were mere slits, pinning him down with such strength that it was Jack’s time to be completely frozen. The mermaid spitted the next words with such viciousness that the young man had to swallow a gasp. – If only you weren’t so... so _boring_.

At this the boy visibly looked affronted, as if the mermaid had just suddenly slapped him across the face.

To the old him, the prankster who carelessly ran through the fields with laughter in his eyes, there was no greater insult. That mirthful boy seemed to resurface a little, so when he swam a little closer to the mermaid, who had now her back turned to him, he wondered doubtfully, as if he had heard it wrong.

\- Did you just call _me_ boring?

Toothiana turned around, with a nose raised up in the air and a confident stance strengthening her next words. And the determinate glint in her orbs made something jump inside the shepherd’s chest.

\- You, Jackson Overland, became a fearful, tedious boy! – she spoke, fiercely, all her previous delight completely drained out.

But then, as violently as her fury came, the flame that feed her remarks seemed to simply go out.

Her eyes then became abruptly gloomy, sadly meeting his wide open ones with a look of pure compassion. And the mermaid spoke, with a humorless chuckle, the words that would hurt him so much to hear.

\- But perhaps _boy_ is not the right word at all... You became a _dry old man_ , with no _wonder_ , _hope_ or _dreams_.

She turned her back to him once more, gazing the setting sun, arms embracing her form for comfort and warmth. The icy breeze had stolen all her heat and the bright red disc was almost gone. The whales were going away too, but she could not help but let _that_ disappointment sip into the truthful words that left her heart now. 

\- And I’m sorry... I failed and I am sorry. – she continued, irises falling to the reflexive surface under them. – I tried to... I hoped I could... I could make you _happy_ again...

And then those huge eyes of hers meet his again, who were now wide and shaken, the boy panting noticeably.

Tooth might not realize this, but... It was... it was as if Em herself was speaking to him... his dear Emma telling him those very words that he desperately needed to hear. Those very few words that he could swear he heard her whisper during his calmest nights, those he would so promptly deny when the morning came.

But... he _couldn’t_! He couldn’t just pretend that it didn’t happen... that she didn’t happen! _He could never forgive himself for what he had done!_

However, the mermaid broke his inner battle with a deep sigh, trying to regain her assured stance, eyes penetrating deep into his soul as she spoke. He almost shivered at the finality gleaming in them.

\- But I now realize Jack that the only one who can ever make you happy again is not me, nor your father, nor your herd, nor even Emma _..._ – she enumerated, breathlessly, and her voice almost cracked. Almost.

But it all sounded so _definitive_ , so _unchangeable_ , that the boy felt his heart helplessly squeeze in despair. It sounded awfully like a goodbye.

She pronounced those last few words in a whisper, as if it pained her to do so.

_... but you and you alone..._

 

The last thing he saw was her tail, disappearing under the orange glow of the ocean. A strangled gasp, the sound of someone drowning, reached his ears. He would later realize the sign of pure despair had left his own lips.

But now he was frozen, absently moving his members just enough so he wouldn’t sink. His shocked mind spared him that. And there he stayed, wide blue irises unbelievingly fixed on the fading sun. He would stay there, floating up and down in the gentle rocking of the waves, for what seemed an eternity, trying to wrap his mind around the consequences of his harsh words.

When an almost animalistic scream of frustration left his throat, night had long fallen around him.


	14. Swimming, drowning and swimming again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, but this story isn't really popular on this site so I sometimes forget to update it here!  
> Anyway, thank you for all of you who left a cudos or a bookmark :D

XIV

It was a pair of right whales, mother and calf – from what Tooth could hear in their groans and creaks – somewhat late in their migration, as the summer had started already and the arctic was still a few miles away.

But while trying to reach the cetaceans, their distant growls reverberating through the ocean, Toothiana couldn’t prevent the nagging sadness from heightening down her usually gleeful core.

She and the human boy had not parted in good terms...

_It’s not up to you now_ , she repeatedly reminded her guilt-filled brain. No one could help Jack but himself. _He_ was the one that had to decide to end his self-imposed suffering.

As soon as the mermaid had ended her explosion, her iridescent form had plunged back into the water, swimming away as swiftly as she could. She would not dare to look back; because Tooth knew that if she did, she wouldn’t have the strength to go away again.

Jack _needed_ this... he needed the silence to hear the echo of both her words and his choices.  

So she left, kicking the water behind her as strongly as her tail could muster, with the reassurance that land was close enough for the boy to reach the shore if he wanted to. 

What brought her back from her musings was nothing more nothing less than the low pitched variations that melodically spread through the liquid environment: a whale’s greeting.

They were unique to each individual, quite like saying your name, so Toothiana quickly sang her salutations back.  

Eagerly gliding the last hundreds of meters, the dancing pair finally stood right before the mermaid.

Toothiana proudly checked that she had identified the whales correctly. They were right whales indeed, with their dark bodies and characteristic callosities. Each individual had a characteristic white bump, caused by accumulation of parasites. At least her boring classes where of some use.

And by the moon, they were _huge_! Even the recently born calf was about three times her size! Tooth knew they were smaller than the mighty blue whale, the biggest animal known on this Earth, and for a moment couldn’t believe that there was something bigger than this roaming the oceans.

The mother doubled over her white patched belly, huge tender eyes gazing the recently arrived mermaid. She had a unique bump, right above her eye that reminded Tooth of a human’s eyebrow. _Jack..._

She shook her head, trying to shoo the boy from her mind. Even when she was angry at him, he wouldn’t leave her be.

She chose to focus instead on the confused little calf, which didn’t seem to know whether to continue in his joyful twirls or to hide under his mother’s huge fin. He initially opted for the latter, but with a small nudge and a reassuring groan the calf returned to his tricks.

Tooth giggled, and somewhat hesitantly herself, she swam towards the shy youngling. But a few twirls and loops was all it took to win his trust, and soon both mermaid and calf played in the deep blue waters of the ocean.

The trio remained in that peaceful gathering for quite a while, dear Toothiana desperate for stories from far away seas and incredibly curious to examine baleen plates for the first time.

And as Tooth laughed, twirled, swam and had fun, she was suddenly reminded of the boy, whose eyes should once had gleamed with the same mirth, with the same happiness.  Because she was sure, in her heart, that the expression that truly belong in his face was not that guilt filed frown, but a crooked smile and a gleeful twinkle in those ocean-blue irises.

So the mermaid suddenly stopped in her frenzied chase with the now not so shy calf. And when the whale groaned a gentle question, as if able of sensing her inner turmoil, Toothiana gazed with an abrupt gloominess. 

"I... I wish he was here", she started, eyes travelling to the undulating surface, "It doesn't feel right.”

The calf whined again, but staring at his huge eyes, the mermaid's restlessness turned into decision. 

_No, there is nothing you can do now.  It's all up to him. He needs time and you need patience. Besides, he was extremely rude! A human boy can’t take you for granted and treat you whatever he feels like!_

The self reassured scaly girl turned around, facing the empty vastness of the ocean with a deep breath. 

She should just return to the peaceful environment of her own community, try to catch up with her newly assigned chores, be the responsible mermaid Rashmi wished for her to be.

But her life down there was so dull and boring, so full of rules and expectations. Toothiana had thought she wanted that, to be a respectable member of her society. But there was _so much more_ in this new world she had discovered, so much to learn!

However, her pure and naive excitement was not received well at home, and though it pained Rashmi to bind her so much, her Core Sister had a reputation to take care of. Escutah was keeping an eye on them already.

_'Mermaids are supposed to be serene and composed, like the moon. We are both beautiful and mysterious.'_ She would say. But then, glancing at her with and arched eyebrow, her guardian would calmly add, _'Though we don't have to be mysterious among our own...'_

At this the younger mermaid would pretend that she didn't know what Rashmi was referring to. Then, quite conveniently, some interesting fish or seahorse would allegedly pass by and Toothiana would disappear among the wavering seaweed.

For some time, our dear Tooth had been able of dodging her sister's curiosity, declaring that all this new responsibilities and lack of freedom were simply overwhelming. It was the truth, but only half of it.

And her disappearances became _so_ regular, and the dreamy smile plastered in her face _so_ usual, that it was difficult not to notice the change.

Toothiana had always had her head out of this ocean, but now it seemed she entered this distracted state for a _whole different reason_. And Rashmi was no fool.  
But she ignored it, for the younger mermaid's sake. She seemed happy after all.  Her only fear was that Tooth, prone to trouble as she was, would end in some sort of dangerous mess.

What she didn't know was that the restless mermaid had entered a path that meant only trouble the moment she poked her head out of the water, all those weeks ago.

And though Tooth didn't want to hurt her Core Sister, the only other truly important being in her life, she could not just tame her curious and vividly spirit into submission, living a life of imprisoning maturity. There would be time for that, someday...

So for now, she would take her mind out of such serious business, forgetting both the weight of the hopes of her own kind and the ominous presence of a certain human boy who had slowly accommodated in her heart.

Unfortunately, even if she tried to distract herself, caressing the rubber-like skin of the calf, the later also refused to abandon her mind, infiltrating in the break between each thought.

It was a strange feeling, different from the constant presence that would made her blush and giggle when no one was around. She felt agitated, like something was off...

She was suddenly brought from her thoughts as a simple goodbye sounded from the right whales, the mother urging her to be _careful_.

And so Tooth watched the pair dive towards the dark depths with a mild sorrow for the lack of their company, the white bump above the mother’s eye the last thing fading.

It was only when her violet orbs stared at nothing but open darkness that she felt the turbulence in the surrounding environment. 

With a bone shaking shrill she swam away, tail kicking as powerfully as her muscles endured, towards the distant shore, giant walls of water raising above her very head. Because as soon as her eyes left the increasingly violent undulation – so violent that the ocean itself seemed to suddenly remind her of a certain shepherd’s rage – Toothiana knew, in her very core, that the human boy was _not_ safe on land.

...

..

.

'What was I thinking?'

His arms were tired, his legs were faltering, his lungs were panting. The only thing that should be enduring the effort was his will, but even _that_ was becoming weaker with each wave. They were like unceasing series of enormous walls, pushing against his body, blocking his way.

But she couldn't, _she_ _wouldn't_ leave like that!

When her tail finally disappeared under the grey ocean he had half expected for her to splash the salty liquid in his face. But her reaction never came.

Instead he was left completely alone, floating up and down in this undulating surface, blue eyes flickering all around as if waiting for her to suddenly jump out of the water. But it seemed that the mermaid was _really_ mad.

However, Jack was mad too; so when he was left with nothing more than the coldness of the ocean around him, he did what any angry boy who would not be given attention would do: he gave a tantrum. 

The shepherd swore and kicked and hit the water with clenched fists, going against the waves, _fuming_ like he hadn't been in some time.

Oh, how he hated the _pity_ he saw glimmering in her eyes, as she pronounced those last few words. As if he was some poor lonely boy needing her help!

Later, as he got more and more tired, and the blazing fire of his rage faded away, Jack realized he was precisely that: a poor lonely boy...

So he chased her. Because, what if the mermaid peered too deeply into the darkness of his being? What if this time she had truly seen the monster within and got scared, swimming away to never come back?

The mere thought of it made him sink under a huge wave, as if the early signs of despair immediately pulled him down.

The ocean itself was ruthless, throwing wave upon wave of cold salty water, as if angry at the human boy himself for daring to treat its daughter in such rude way. 

Soaked and panting, the beginnings of tiredness heightening down on his limbs, Jack found himself gazing back at the shore.

His ego, both prideful and desperate for his own survival, told him to swim back; swim back and wait until the mermaid came to apologize. Yes, he would just have to wait; she would soon show up... And let’s say she didn't! See if _he_ cared!

The boy understood the ridiculous of his assumptions as soon as the thoughts morphed in his mind.

She wasn't the one that needed to ask for forgiveness. In the hindsight... well, maybe she was right. He was the one who insisted into drowning himself in a constant sea of grief and sorrow.

It was perfectly understandable that the mermaid didn't want to reside in such dense waters. The shepherd was even _surprised_ at her will to venture in the turbulence of his being. He ran away from the misery of his house as soon as he could!

For a second he wondered why... why would anyone willingly try to enter the darkness of his heart when even himself wasn't brave enough to do it?

The only answer that crossed his mind was that Toothiana did care for him.

Realizing this had been hard only because it seemed that no one did. Ever since Em left, the entire family seemingly fell apart; they had been all by themselves, buried in their own way of dealing with the grief.

Jack chose to maintain the carefree spirit that was so characteristic of him. But his eyes showed the truth, as they were often gloomy and dull. Tooth always saw behind that! It was indeed curious: it was only with the mermaid that his smiles were sincere and his sorrow not masked. Only with her Jack found the chance to be truly honest.

But there was one last secret, one last confession that weighted down on his soul. It was the reason why he couldn't let go of his sister, why he could never allow himself to be happy again, even if the cost was the loss of Tooth's friendship.

But he had to tell her... he had to say it, out loud, because the truth was like an _acid_ , corroding him from the inside.

With this new found motivation he struggled the raging seas with the last of his strengths. But if he advanced two meters, the waves pushed him back three. It was exhausting.

_Jaaaaack....._

The shrilling scream almost made his heart stop. The shepherd turned around in the waves, desperately looking for the source of such desperate howl. But he already knew who it belonged too.  He was always hearing it... over and over again. It the thunders that broke the skies in the darkest of nights, in the cries of seagulls that glided above his head. It even haunted his dreams, when the boy was most helpless.

One might think Jack would have grown used to it already, that it didn’t affect the young man anymore. You would be wrong. He still shivered... every single time.

But now he couldn’t afford giving importance to his personal ghosts. He needed to reach the mermaid. Because if he didn’t do it now, he might never get the chance to do it again...

So he kept swimming.

A mixture of salt and sweat plastered his bangs to his forehead, sore muscles threatening to give up at any moment. The shepherd had swallowed more sodium today than he would need for an entire life! Reddened eyes burned, salty water continuously being sprayed by the wind into his face.

But he had to move on... he couldn’t give up! No, he couldn’t lose her! He wouldn’t lose her _too_!

Then...

_“Jack!”_

And he could swear he was holding her tiny slippery – oh, so slippery – hand again, right in his own gelid grasp. The young man could almost feel her nails digging into his palm in pure desperation. Because they both knew that if she didn’t held on tight, she would be dragged away.

  _“Jack, I’m scared!”_

He chocked and scoffed as the salty liquid came right down his throat. A strangled gasp left his lungs as soon as his face broke the unsteady surface once more, hands grasping the emptiness of the ocean in a maddened attempt of keeping him afloat.

But as soon as the boy was minimally out of danger, the memories of _her_ , of _that day_ , came drowning him again.

Jack clearly felt her grip on his hand loosen, and then, just like that, her little hand – _his little sister_ –simply slipped away.

And reliving that all over again was more overwhelming than he could ever imagine.

The boy felt his already tortured heart squeeze painfully inside his chest. And with all the terror, with all the sorrow, with all the guilt that mingled inside his tormented, Jack truly believed that it would simply collapse. There was no way such tiny organ could endure _so much pain_.  

“Em...” he managed to whimper, in a strangulated breath.

But soon his body was being pushed down again, as if the ocean himself was finally punishing him for her death, making him leave this world in a similar way. It was only fair...

So he sinks...

It was incredible that even with such violent storm dwelling on the surface, his body could sink so peacefully.

But what was even more amazing was that a bright silver disc shone directly above him, perfectly visible from his underwater tomb. If he could smile he would.

_The moon itself came to say goodbye..._

A hurried line of air bubbles ascended towards the increasingly distant surface, shinning in the moonlight.

And when he was just about to close his eyes, ready to depart from this pain-filled world and join his beloved sister in whatever came next, a dark figure shadowed the silvery aster.

Jack managed to frown, slightly confused, but soon his face was peaceful again. Whatever it was undulated beautifully, as if flying towards him, shimmering in the moons glow in a way that could only be described as otherworldly.

Two warm arms fiercely embraced his body, and the boy couldn’t think of a more merciful way to leave this Earth: hugged by an angel...

And soon, everything was darkness, as it was in the beginning and as it will be in the end.

But before his conscience could finally slip away, Jack was graced with those final words, spoken in a voice that brought pain before. Now there was only peace...

_“Jack... I was scared. But not anymore.”_ And he could swear he felt her smile. “ _Besides, I was the one to go!”_

_... Please don’t let my departure take you away as well..._


	15. Rebirths under the Moon

XV

_That's the first thing I remember._

_It was dark, and it was cold._

_And I was scared._

A gasp of chilly air filled his chest, in an almost choked shudder, as he blinked his eyes open. Breathing hurt, as if he had been deprived from oxygen for a considerable period of time. But then his body rolled over, moved purely by instinct, shaking in violent convulsions, trying to cough out the liquid intruder from the lungs. It left a familiar salty taste in his mouth and throat.The boy fell backwards into a pebbles-filled sand, exhausted, sensing the coolness of the night seeping into his bones. He suppressed a shiver. Blinking foggy irises, he tried to squint past the darkness. Such efforts reveled to be futile. The boy wheezed a tired breath, and as if blown away by his sigh, the thick blanket of clouds floated across the veiled sky.    _But then...then I saw the moon._ _It was so big and it was so bright, and it seemed to chase the darkness away._ _And when it did..._ _I wasn't scared anymore._

The huge silver disc casted its light down both at the boy and the entire world around him. Suddenly, it was as if the not so distant lullaby of the waves became perceivable, and the wet breeze coming from the sea messed with his tousled hair, calling him, alluring him to go and play. 

Jack felt the chuckle leave his parted lips before he could stop it, and for a moment of ignorant bliss the boy completely forgot why he should bite them back in the first place!

But then, pictures of giant walls of water flooded his mind, making the steady thumping in his chest increase into maddening proportions, like the organ was trying to burst out of its cage.

The fresh memory of the burning in his lungs, the tightness in his throat, all caused by the restriction of breathing, made the boy believe he was drowning all over again.

The darkness, the bite of the coolness of the water in his skin, the battle between the part of him that wanted to just inhale and what was left of his rationality saying he couldn’t.

And when all seemed about to fade in an eternal slumber, her words had drifted through an imaginary wind inside his head, Jack’s little sister whispering to him in a laughing, gleeful voice.

_... Please don’t let my departure take you away as well..._

And something in his icy heart shone brightly, opening cracks of life all through the hurting organ. A flicker of hope… hope of salvation.

Em loved him, and he loved her! Wouldn’t it be painful to see your big brother sulking around, throwing his life away like that? There was nothing he could do to bring her back! She… She was not coming back…

But he couldn’t just forget it, could he? _Like it didn’t happen!_ It was his _fault_ after all, that she was not sleeping safely in her bead right now! If he hadn’t been so reckless, always messing around…

_But it had been just a game…_

His eyes stung with the announcement of a new wave of emotions, though he stubbornly stomped them down.

Almost instinctively the flooded irises roamed, searching for the piece of crimson cloth, the one that was both the only thing left of her and the constant reminder of his role in her departure. But the scarf was not there, having been left with the rest of his cloths back in the bay.

Pictures of recurrent nightmares flashed behind his eyelids, showing Jack being strangled by the infamous piece of wool, by _her favorite red scarf_!

Heaving he looked around, that always present weight choking him, bounding him to a crime he feared he could not be pardoned from. Most of the times he didn’t know if he _deserved_ to be!

In a gust of sudden anger the sand was kicked and hands desperately clawed their way into his messy locks. There were times he wished he could just rip his ruined heart out of its prison. Maybe _then_ the pain would subside…

He felt _defeated_ by the events he had no control over, he felt _lost_ , he felt _afraid_ , and above all he felt _alone_ , in a world – in a _life_ – he though he didn’t deserve.

He became a _murderer_ without meaning to! But the point was… he didn’t want to feel like a murderer anymore… Was that wrong? Was that disrespectful to Em, when the reason she was gone fell upon him?

His breath shuddered.

And when his orbs travelled all the way up to the Moon, in a desperate search for _something_ he quite didn’t understand, the white disc blinked back.

\- Why? Why have you brought me back?

Was this some kind of cruel joke? Jack recalled saying goodbye to this world, ready for the next with the promise that he would be with _her._ He would finally pay for his crime, but it seemed death was a too merciful punishment. Living with the guilt was way harder.

But… _no_! It _couldn’t_ be! His life couldn’t be just loneliness and suffering! There had to be _more_ , so what was the point of being brought back? And the boy didn’t _believe_ , for a second, that the tender light above him could desire for anything if not peace!

Then… then he remembered seeing the Moon, blessing him with its light as he sunk towards the dark depths of the ocean. The bright aster seemed to observe him, pondering…

And Jack had no idea what did the Moon see in his broken and frozen core; but in the end, _a second chance was given._

…

..

.

Jack left his irises fall back onto the crashing waves a few meters ahead of him. The night was cold and the breeze was biter, but as it caressed the boys pale cheeks, he couldn’t avoid the shuddering sigh that left his lungs.

He couldn’t quite grasp what just happened, but _something_ certainly did! The boy felt he could breathe more easily, that his heart could pump without that constant constriction. And the feeling was so good, so _freeing_ , that he laughed! Jack _laughed_ , alone in that beach, and didn’t feel guilty about it!

The boy gazed the moon with wonder in his eyes.

Maybe it was not his time yet. Maybe the boy was needed for something else! But what? What was there more in the world than Em-

_The angel!_

Suddenly there was a powerful boom in his mind and all he could see were flashes of iridescent scales and tender smiles, joyful laughs and adorable blushes, cerise infinite orbs and comforting embraces, warm light and lots, _lots_ of salty water.

Jack jumped a mile in the air, one name and one name alone echoing restlessly inside him, as constant as the pumping of his heart: _Toothiana!_

S-she was the one who _saved_ him, who came back even when he had been nothing but horrible to her!

And… she came back…

Jack whirled around, stumbling towards the waves in tired, wobbly legs.

\- Tooooth!

His shout ran across the extension of the beach and the emptiness of the sea´s surface. No answer came. The boy then tried to squint pass the darkness, to hear pass the roaring of the waves. The smile until then hitched on his face begun to falter.

Had she gone away, taken by the retrieving tide? Perhaps she got bored of his unconscious form, sprawled out in the sand. How long had he been out, anyway?

His gelid feet continued wandering the line where the water could just barely reach. Any person now would have been suffering the convulsions of hypothermia, but not a single shiver crossed his half naked body. His mind was way out of such basic needs.

Finally he stopped, gazing white explosions of foam sparkle in the moonlight.

It was breath taking! Everything from the fresh breeze to the oceans lullaby was absolutely wonderful. And the boy couldn’t remember the last time he had truly appreciated it… these simple beauties in life… Well, maybe the universe that secretly lived inside Tooth´s orbs! He certainly got lost in those quite often!

The thought made his mind go back to the vanished mermaid. Where was she?

But… where was _he_?

And when Jack looked around, trying to identify the shore where he had stranded, he saw it: the pale form illuminated by the moon’s tender glow. And something inside him snapped or stopped or started, he couldn’t even tell!

But not a heartbeat had passed, and the boy went on a mad dash, stumbling every two steps, running up the beach to the place where he had woken up; because he immediately knew who the colorless body belonged to, and worse of all, what it _meant_.

How he hadn’t seen her in the first place, only the moon could tell, though there were more vital things clouding his judgment in the moment.

And there were so many things wrong in the scene laid before him that Jack couldn’t even manage the wave of panic rising within.

She was not supposed to be so still, she couldn’t be that far from the ocean, her skin should be a sparkling rainbow of colors in the silver rays, her face ought to have a smile on it, and her beautiful irises _must not_ be hidden away under such pale eyelids! They should be joyfully glistening in wonder, filling this cruel world with love and light. And oh, how the world – how _he_ – desperately needed those two! 

His bony knees met the ground with a silent thud, arms encircling her form like vines, ‘ _No_ ’s and ‘ _Not again_ ’s mumbled all the while, like a prayer, over and over again. The abnormal coolness of her only distressed him more, pricking his nerves wherever their skins touched.

\- Please no… Not again! – he cursed past clenched teeth, as he dragged the mermaid’s pale  form back into the water.

He was slapped by waves and pushed back by a freezing cold ocean, but by this point, it was as if the boy didn’t mind the cold at all! There was too much adrenaline pumping in his veins for him to notice.

And like that first time once, in what now seemed an eternity ago, Jack waited, in a wide-eyed horror, for a new miracle, another chance. Though this time he didn’t let go.

\- Toooooth… - he groaned, showing his pearly whites but not on a breathtaking smile. – Come on!

With water up to his chest, he gripped the mermaid’s forearms with increasing despair. (The print of his fingers marked there would bring him shame for a couple of days.) He fought the urge to shake her small form, to force her to wake up! He eventually did. But when her head wobbled back and forth in a lose neck the boy immediately stopped, with an apologetic gasp cradling her to his chest.

Pulling away just the slightest, Jack tried to get a look at her moonlit features. Tooth was still amazingly beautiful, even in this state, the peacefulness of her expression nearly enough to calm him down; the paleness of her color-drained skin almost making it seem as if she had a glow of her own. And in that moment, Jack believed she did… Toothiana gleamed like an angel in the darkness of the night, his own special light in the darkness of this world.

But if her skin merely reflected the moon’s silver rays, it was her eyes which truly had a glimmer of their own. And oh boy, Jack couldn’t muster the thought of not seeing that sparkle again!

So for the second time that night, he looked up to the bright disc in a silent plea.

\- Please… please… please…

And it was not like he should be expecting an answer, after so many silent disappointments. But when all that was given back was its invariable soft beams, the boy couldn’t help but through the moon a frustrated glare.

His scowl vanished the minute his icy blue orbs fell on the unconscious mermaid in his arms.

Jack knew that in extreme cases, Toothiana could deliberately enter a hibernating state, in order to preserve all the oxygen she could manage. She had told him as much, when the boy wondered how she made it alive in that first tiny _accident_ … (The one he, on Tooth’s demand, fought hard to forget.) Apparently, even sharks could pull of the little trick, lasting some minutes out of water. 

But what if the mermaid was past that time? What if she was already-

He immediately bit back the thought. _No_! Jack couldn’t _dare_ to think like that! If he did… well… this time he would certainly break for good…

So with a tentatively cool head, and impossibly trembling finger, the boy tried to take her pulse. But his fingertips were completely _numb_ , and he really _didn’t know_ how- Did she even have a circulation like that?

_No, STOP Overland! Just focus!_

Gulping down, the distressed shepherd brought her closer, tilting his head in order to lay his ear flat against her chest. He fought back the rush of heat pooling his cheeks – this was _definitely not the time_! – and concentrated in finding that vital rhythm. He was starting to feel the panic rise within him, the silence so impossibly painful, when suddenly…

_Lub dub… lub dub…_

And the sound was so frail, but oh so deliciously _alive_ , that Jack couldn’t help but feel his eyes fill up and a relieved laugh shake him to the core! He sighed, feeling like he could breathe again, and allowed his forehead fall on top of hers, salty bangs brushing against her skin.

Slowly opening his eyes – when had he closed them? – Jack peered down at the mermaid’s sleeping face. A though abruptly stuck him, flashing out of the blue in the sudden quietness that was his mind; like the knowledge had been there all along, but everything was just too loud to hear.

Frowning, the boy just barely moved away, tilting his head in a pondering manner.

Maybe… and what had he to lose?

So Jack decided to trust this sudden source of inspiration, and taking a deep, _deep_ breath…. He dove.

…

..

.

It was impossibly dark, even with a full moon casting its light from up there. But the boy didn’t need to see anyway.

He hesitated just a second, inhibitions taking the urgency out of the situation. However, the shepherd quickly shooed the thought away. This was their last hope, and he would do what needed to be done!

So with a determined frown that overcame the impossible burning in his cheeks and ears, the boy advanced.

Fingers stretches slowly, shyly going towards their destiny, while his other hand continued to firmly hold her. When he found her waist, fingertips meeting her abnormally dry skin with a strange prickle, his hand began hovering higher and higher. At last, the protuberance of her ribs was felt under his cautious touch, a small smile of victory blooming in his smacked lips.

But the boy didn’t let that divert him from the task in hands. He squinted his eyes, focusing on that specific patch of skin, faultless if it weren’t for a parallel set of cuts. Jack moved his fingers. In the end, all it took were some soft rubs, and Tooth’s thoracic set of gills unglued from their pasted state, a gush of salty water rushing inside.

Jack hurried his work after that, awkwardness long forgotten under the urgency of the whole situation.  But that didn’t remove the gentleness from his strokes. The boy was certain this were very sensitive parts in a mermaid’s body.

Soon, the other group of thoracic gills was freed, the ocean swiftly filling it. A quick gasp of air above the waves and Jack went down again. Then came the ones from her neck, the boy pressing a tentative kiss to one of the gashes, trying to blow water in it. Heck, he had no idea, whatsoever, about the things he was doing… _But he was sure way pass caring!_  

He broke the surface with a greedy intake of air, flushed and panting and way more restless than the situation required; the despair was probably making him crazy… (And something inside him whispered this probably wouldn’t be the last time!)

Then, his vision befell on Tooth’s submerged face, still safely secured in his arms, and the sight of her parted lips made everything silence within him. He felt himself automatically lean forward, but Jack stopped himself midway, frowning, as if awoken from a dream.

What was he even doing? Oh, this was a something else, a whole other kind of thing! This was not a matter of survival! Was his heart that desperate to take advantage of the unconscious mermaid like that? Was that _fair_ to Tooth? Was that what _she_ even _wanted_? (He promptly ignore the ache that sprouted in his chest when he thought that she might not)

And besides, what if his heart was only desperate for attention, for warmth? Was if this was just some selfish urge of filling a void?

Even with all they had been through, Jack didn’t feel as if he could trust his hurt organ anymore. And something inside him both yelled and pleaded that he couldn’t subject _her_ to such doubts. The boy couldn’t dare to risk killing that light, the one which still sparkled in her gaze…

So he gently let go of her, seeing her still pale body float steadily in the moonlight. A tired sigh and he moved away just the slightest, blue orbs travelling all the way up to the glowing aster in his third quiet plea that night. And as it should be, silence was all he got back.

Either way, the shepherd pouted and glared, letting out a raspy groan that expressed all his tiredness, all his frustration, all his despair. His gelid palms covered his face in an irritated manner, fingers gripping his hair, rubbing his temples. But then, the big milky just hands stayed there, as he exhaled slowly one final time, shoulders slumping as all the air left his lungs.

Who could guess a mere boy like him, a simple shepherd, would be exposed to such emotionally-draining episodes? What a crazy life! But as images of flowing brown hair, iridescent scales, red scarves, and an absolutely endless collection of smiles and laughs flooded his mind, the boy couldn’t help but grin too. Yeah… it certainly was a crazy life. _But it was worth it!_

_These girls will be the death of me!_

Jack couldn’t help but smile behind his palms, shaking his head.

_And speaking of the devil!_

Slimy fingers encircled his freezing hands, gently pulling them out of his face. And just like once upon a time, in what seemed like ages ago, the boy opened his eyes to a worried looking mermaid. And she would never know the absolutely overcoming wave of happiness he felt flooding his entire being the moment he caught sight of those amazing cerise orbs! (Only that she did, because she felt the exact same thing when his blue gaze locked with hers.)

But this time, instead of being greeted with surprise, or passion, or anger, or any other strong emotion, Tooth only found this breathtaking smirk on his gorgeous face, his eyes glistening with a kind of mirth that the mermaid was certain that had been once ever-present in his irises.

Somehow, a giddy grin found its way into her face, as he spoke with that hoarse voice of his, neither of them noticing (or choosing to notice) that their fingers were still laced together.

\- This is becoming rather repetitive, don’t you think?


	16. It's time for me to tell you a sad, sad story...

XVI

The next thing she knew, her body was being pulled out of the water, sending shinning droplets flying everywhere; and for a moment, just a frozen second in the infinite of seconds that had passed before and the ones that waited ahead, the pair was surrounded by a halo of tiny diamonds sparkling under the moon.

The boy hugged her tight to his chest, spinning them both around as much as humanly possible - with the mermaid's tail dragging in the water, such efforts did not reveal to be easy.

"Jack!" squeaked the other, both from surprise and from the tightness of his hold. Still, she laughed the entire time.

But after some more twirls, in a strangled voice it came:

"Jack! Jac- I can- I can't breathe!"

And the boy realized that he was probably holding her out of the water for _far too long!_ An apologetic "ups!" was quickly uttered, and in his embarrassment the apparently simple job of returning the mermaid in his arms to the ocean became _incredibly_ messy.

Some gasps, a couple of stumbles, her heavy tail constricting his legs and _SPLASH! -_ The mermaid, as much as the boy, were back into the cold water.

Toothiana broke the surface first, having landed right on top of the soaked shepherd and all, spluttering curses and giggles in that strangely musical language of hers.

"For all the starfish in the sea, Jack!" she laughed, as a shaggy mass of hair erupted from the water before her. "You surely missed the ocean, didn't you? But I think that for a non-aquatic being, this is enough bath for a day!"

She helped him sit in the increasingly shallow waters, the tide following its course and retreating towards the ocean once more.

But suddenly, the half-girl realized something odd, unsettling: _his silence_ … As strange as it was, the boy hadn’t uttered a single word the entire time!

Her laughter quietening down, with one petit hand the mermaid reached up, and brushed the dripping bangs out of his eyes. And when the curtain was pushed aside, Toothiana was confronted with those incredibly expressive eyes of his.

For one infinite moment, not for the first time and hopefully not for the last, all that there was were _irises_ – eagerly, shyly, joyfully, enthusiastically – examining every inch of one another, avidly trying to catch every speck of pigment, every shifting nuance, every star in those little universes: one was kaleidoscopic combination of pinks and purples, unsteady magentas and violets that changed depending on the angle in which the moonlight hit them. The other was a clear blue, as much of a blue as the immense sky, or the beloved ocean, or the marvelous ice. And Tooth was taken aback for a second, because it seemed impossible that such icy gaze could be as _warm_ as it was in that second.

But what had been warm soon became scorching and it seemed that the mermaid simply couldn’t hold such intensity much longer. So her eyes swept the area around them, just as a splash of crimson changed the colors of her skin, headfins fluttering slightly.  Suddenly the half-girl’s stare befell on their held hands. She blinked, and this time the sudden wave of heat was _actually_ felt.

“I…” she begun, in a quiet mutter, part trying to distract herself from the fire in her face and palms, part desperately wanting to break the deafening silence. “I… I should not have left you there, by yourself…”

But then, as the apology left her lips, a sudden _tsunami_ of words threatened to burst out of her, and there seemed to be no way of stopping it now.

“You were just getting started again, and I convinced you to go, but then all that thing with the whales, and you were just behaving like an old cranky lobster, and I got mad, and I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have left you hanging there! And then the storm, I swam back right away, but…” her endless blabber abruptly came to a stop. If only her nature allowed such merci, her eyes would be brimming with tears now, as they fixed an inexistent point somewhere in the water. Her brow furrowed. “I… I came back, and had to _scream_ into the water to find you… And when I heard where you were, when I heard your _immobile_ body, sinking slowly, so _deep_ into the ocean… So still!” and a strange kind of strangled hiccup wrecked her chest. The timid attempt of a sob. And the sound seemed to wreck Jack himself. “I… I thought…”

And her eyes came back to his, the terror, the _dread_ so utterly visible, Jack could do nothing but frown compassionately. Because he _knew_ what she had felt: that sudden painful ceasing of your own heart... He had felt it as well, far too many times; so many, that one didn’t even hope to survive to feel another.  

His gelid arms (how he hadn’t fainted from the cold yet was beyond his understanding) circled her tiny body, holding her so tightly against his torso that the mermaid might just squeak.

Thus, when she trembled violently, as he was about to hide himself in her neck, Jack almost let go completely, guessing that he was probably choking her again. But then tiny hands gripped his back, as desperately as a shipwreck sailor does when finding a slippery rock after miles of sea, pulling him closer. He immediately complied. And the shepherd was so used to being the drowning man and not the rock, that for a frozen moment he didn’t know what to do. But then the mermaid shuddered again, and it was _not_ due to his hold or the chilliness of the water!

So the boy did the only thing that felt right doing: he hugged her dearly, hoping that his embrace gave her as much comfort as she needed. And if the muscles of his arms strangled the smaller Tooth slightly, it was because he didn’t know of another way to show how fiercely he lo-

The gesture was enough to open the gates of her pent-up scare. Like vomit, the words came out of her again.

“ _I saw the light go of your eyes_ , just as I was about to reach you! But I _couldn’t_ believe… I just couldn’t… So I swa- and swam, an- I brought us here, but you didn’t move _the entire time_ , and I didn’t kno- I didn’t know if you had already…” she hiccupped so much that she seemed not to be able of breathing at all. But there were no tears in her eyes (as a mermaid she was deprived of such release). So all the emotions dueling inside her, finding no way out, choked and strangled and suffocated her. Jack panicked.

 “Shush, it’s okay, everything’s alright now! See, I’m right here! Everything went well!”

“But it could have not been! It coul- it could hav- you could have…”   

“But I _didn’t_!” insisted the other with a chuckle, “I didn’t, and it’s not your fault! Even if I _did_ , it would not be your fault! It would **_never_** be your fault! Ever!”

And as he repeated this, like a mantra, the words coming out of his mouth had even more effect on him than in the quietening mermaid.

Soon, both of them could breathe again, and it felt so invigorating, so easy, that it was as if they were breathing freely for the first time in centuries, a tired Toothiana closing her eyes in peace and a wide eyed Jack staring amazed at the sparkling ocean behind her.

_It would never be your fault…_

Jack couldn’t even _stand_ the idea of burdening poor innocent Tooth with such guilt! Not when she had _nothing_ to do with it! The mere thought of her torturing herself with thoughts of culpability when there was no one to blame…

It hit him suddenly; and he wished with all his strengths that wherever his dear little sister was, she hadn’t even _glimpsed_ the storm inside his heart and head. Not when she might find herself responsible for his state!

_Ugh, this endless loop of guilt is so tiring!_ The shepherd was tired, absolutely _exhausted_ of all the wasted life, tarnished with endless sorrow and grief. _ENOUGH_! It had been enough! This much sadness would bring no happiness to any of them! Not to his family, not to guiltless Tooth, not to him, and certainly not to Em!

Tonight, he would put an end to it. What has happened has happened, and there was nothing he could do to change that! Jack could only hope to mend his mistakes by making good in the future, and _that_ , that would truly make Em happy. It was time to _let go_ , not only for his family, or Tooth, or Em, but for _himself_!  

And a certain mermaid needed him right now.

“Ok Tooth…” he said, pulling away so he could stare her in the eye, milky pale hands holding her scaly arms for support. “Breathe now! Everything is fine. Look at me!” And slowly she did.

The boy took her response as a good sign, and quickly hurried up, in an attempt of lightening the mood.

“See, that’s my Tooth!” and she smiled just the slightest at his easy chitchat. “So, how did a little and absolutely not terrestrial being like you dragged the unconscious ass of an almost grown up man up the beach after several miles of swimming?”

“Oh it was nothing! Just doing things backwards, that’s all! Instead of dragging nearly grown up men down in to the depths of the sea, this little non-terrestrial creature decided to change it a bit, just to break the routine!” And for the days that followed, the shepherd would uselessly deny that he had fell for it, just for a millisecond, and that the horrified look that the mermaid thought to have seen in his eyes was just a play of the shadows in his features.

But out of the blue, in a much more solemn voice, the mermaid continued.

“I tried to bring you to shore, but I couldn’t… I couldn’t reach high enough! So I- I prayed, prayed to the Moon and to the Ocean to help! Then this wave… this _giant_ wave came and left us both in the sand. And I was so grateful… so, so grateful…” and her eyes travelled back to the bright disc for a second, with a thankful gleam in them.

Silence followed for a moment. And then, in a grave, incredulous whisper:

“You could have _died_ …”

And her orbs – oh so peaceful and wise then – fell back on his unbelieving ones. The answer came simple and true.

“You could have died too.”

…

..

.

He felt like kissing her then. And it was so impulsive, so primal, so unlike anything he had ever allowed himself to feel in a long time, that the surprise alone would have stopped him in his tracks. But it wasn’t that what impeded him then, even though it felt odd to be overcome by such sudden urges after so long.

It wasn’t the kiss itself that intimidated him – he wasn’t really the shy type, but if as a teen he had shared some pecks behind the huts with one girl or another, he had been lead out of pure curiosity. (The boy soon found out that there were more interesting things to do than to enroll in such silly and girly activities!).

But suddenly, the prospect of kissing Tooth, like that, out of the blue, seemed much more daunting. And serious. And wrong…

No… he couldn’t do that to her. Not without telling her _everything_ first. Because after she had found out what he’d done, how much gloom there really was in him, Jack was sure that he would never see his dear mermaid again.

But he would tell her everything, nevertheless. Otherwise, the poison would kill them both… and the boy wouldn’t have that.

“Tooth? There’s something I… that I need to tell you…”

Her eyes soon found his. And there was so much warmth, so much kindness in them that the boy looked away, feeling undeserving. Well, she wouldn’t gaze at him like that any longer… not after this.

“Is everything alright, Jack? Well, apart for you having almost drowned! Oh, you are freezing! Is that normal? Should you be so cold? I don’t remember you ever feeling this cold! Are you going to get sick? Oh, by the Moon, are you going to die?!”

“Wha- Whoa! Tooth, no! I’m, I’m fine!”

Her endless worry almost made him forget the vital information he was trying to take out of his chest. Here he was, trying to get serious, and Tooth has to go and get all motherly over him, being just, well: _Tooth!_

So with a huff he held her still, staring at her magenta orbs, in the urge that she would see the gravity of the matter reflected in his own blue ones.

“Toothiana, there’s something I need to tell you.”

With that, she froze. Tilting her head slightly, the mermaid blinked and waited. And taking her quietness as a final cue to begin, the gelid boy took in a trembling inbreathe of air and prepared for a sad, sad story.

It began with an apology.

“You were right earlier, you know? About what you said. I did become a dry old man, or a fearful, tedious, _boring_ boy. And I lost all the wonder, hopes and dreams in the process. But it wasn’t a slow, subtle thing, like growing up (or like I preferred calling it, growing dull!) is supposed to be. It was all taken from me rather violently, cruelly even! And all it took was _one big wave…”_

As he spoke, Tooth’s expression slowly changed from one of quiet interest, to that of a person who’s totally hooked to one’s words, getting sadder and sadder the more he said. The melancholy in his tone foreshadowed nothing pleasant or light.

Then he laughed, suddenly, humorless and crazy, as if he had just figured out some cruel joke or sadistic irony of life itself.

“Well, if we want to be more precise, all it took was a red _scarf_ and _lots_ of salty water! Just like us, remember?”

But the mermaid dared not to breathe a single word, utterly concerned for the boy’s sanity. (Oh, if only she knew the torments, the demons that tortured the shepherd’s mind, in those sleepless nights that followed the accident! Then, then she would be fearful for his reasoning!)

“But it was a _game_ … I never meant to…” and he stared at her, a desperate gleam in his watery irises. “I was just _messing around!_ ” Then, is eyes befell on his own reflection in the water. A disgusted expression contorted his face, and with an angry smack, the shadow was just a waving surface again. _“Like always!”_

Alarmed by his self-hatred, Tooth tried to rush forward, to comfort him, anything, _anything at all,_ to prevent the self-destructive process. But he continued, spitting words, vomiting a toxic past that hurt him still.

“That blasted _scarf_ was never far from her. She always loved the goddam thing, that silly girl… _Daddy_ gave it to her!” he spat the name with the same disgust he always used when addressing his father. Tooth still didn’t know what happened between the two so that so much bitterness was always underlying the boy’s tone. Maybe she would find out now… Maybe Em’s disappearance had made their relationship vanish as well.

“But when he was away, in the sea… oh, then Em would hold it even more _dearly_ in her tiny hands, and she would _scream_ and _cry_ if someone tried to take it from her!”, the boy laughed humorlessly again, blue irises completely glazed over.

Toothiana knew that he only saw memories now, but when his eyes roamed vaguely and completely saw her through, like she was not even there… it was like a cold vacuum in her chest. She focused on him again when a new deep chuckle left his throat.

“I had always been a naughty boy! And in that day, I was particularly enjoying myself making her squirm and jump, seeing her try to snatch the red cloth from out of my grasp. I didn’t make it an easy task. We ended up by the surf, as we regularly did.”, and when he spoke next, his wide orbs suddenly fixated on her, and his whisper came out like a quiet apology. “I’d always been a naughty boy. Naughty! But never _evil_.” 

A deep, desperate intake of breath, and he shook his head while proceeding. Tears accumulated in his regretful eyes.

“I really didn’t mean to! But suddenly the wind pick up, or I simply dropped it, I swear I can’t be sure! I just remember seeing the red cloth suddenly being washed away, and next thing I knew, Em was chasing it, towards the waves!”

Suddenly he lifted one finger, and stared at the mermaid with a severe frown.

“There is one thing a lad’s always taught when growing up by the sea. And that is never, _never_ , to pursue something that’s being taken by the currents! But it was Dad’s _bloody_ scarf! And _she_ … she was Em: my senseless little sister…”

“I swear to you, the water was goddam right freezing! You could actually feel the aching in your bones. But, for heaven’s sake, I was so _scared_ that I couldn’t feel a thing! There was only Em’s shouts, as she struggled to swim towards me, fighting the drag of our heavy clothes and the force of the tide!”, the words continued flowing in his hoarse, pained voice, making Tooth’s heart break a little more with each new word. But then, his tone cracked abruptly, and a trembling sob wrecked his chest. Long held tears started flowing.

“She was _so_ strong! So, so _strong…_ ” And if Toothiana was not a mermaid, she would be crying too. The boy continued. “But after a while, any fight was useless… And, I _tried_ to be strong for both of us! I _failed_ … One second she was desperately holding the other end of the scarf, the woolen cloth the attempt of a lifeline between us, a wave later… and there was no pull any longer...”

A pained gasp was heard, but it didn’t came from the broken shepherd.    

“It’s crazy, isn’t it? One minute she’s there, the next she’s gone… The _one thing_ you loved in this life, with your entire _heart_ , simply vanishes!”

He turned to the mermaid then, a focused frown settled on his face, as he struggled to explain the unexplainable. Slowly, he described.

“You see, it is a so violent tearing of your own reality, that your mind can’t simply conceive it for the longest time! I fainted some time later, don’t know if from the cold or from the shock. (Maybe a mix of both!) But when I woke up in my bed, at home, who knows how many days later, I couldn’t remember a thing! So when my Mother broke in sobs as soon as she saw me… I couldn’t… I couldn’t understand…”, and Tooth could not imagine the confusion in the boy’s mind in that moment, or worse: the pain in that followed when he was told the truth.

“And when she calmed down enough to speak again, I… I didn’t _believe_ her! I remember shouting at her, calling her liar, for how dare she to joke about something like that! It was cruel, it was…” he paused to breathe, to quiet down. Soon, his voice was somewhat even again. He continued. “But then… then she showed me the scarf.”

“I ran out the house, stumbling and falling, my mother’s cries still echoing in my ears; I searched the entire village, shouting her name, desperately calling and getting no answer, just some sorrowful glances. I climbed to the hills, the panic growing inside me! And it grew and grew, for I ended up kneeled before the waves, with tear-streaked cheeks, puffy red eyes and a broken core…

“I remembered it all then: the cold, the pull of the currents, the horror in my little sister’s face… And it would be that look, the pure _terror_ in her eyes, the clear knowledge that this was the end, which would forever haunt my nightmares…”

And intense silence followed, with Jack’s lifeless gaze on the water below him, and Tooth’s sorrowful expression as a mere shadow of the heartbreaking sadness she felt inside. And the silence lasted for so long, that the mermaid jumped slightly, startled, when the boy’s deep voice was heard again.

“When Dad got home… well, everything just got worse, if that was even possible! Em was his little lady, his own ray of sunshine… well, _our_ ray of sunshine. So coming home and finding her gone, _forever_ … Well, no one in this family was ever the same again. And he never looked at _me_ the same way as well.”

And Toothiana’s eyes widened in understanding. So that’s why they had the tension between each other! Jack’s father thought him responsible for his sister’s death. And Tooth didn’t know the man, but someone burdening his own son with the guilt of such a crime! Well, it was just awful! Having your own family against you, no wonder the boy was always so unwilling to go back!

And having the mermaid just drawn this conclusions, it was understandable the utter shock in which she heard the boy’s next few words.

“But believe me, he couldn’t be more wrong if he thinks he blames _me_ more than _I_ do myself!”

Toothiana frowned for a second, disbelieving and confused, because how could one say that? How could one _hate_ himself?

But the self-destructing shepherd didn’t even give her the time to reply to or deny his senseless statements, soon seething and laughing grimly in that cynical way she had come to detest.

“So you see Tooth? That’s why I can’t go see whales, or be the fun, careless, easy-going boy I used to be! Because it was _that_ boy who got his little sister _killed_!”

And she just couldn’t say anything, everything leaving his mouth just didn’t make any sense! How could he think himself the one to blame? How could…

But it just kept getting worse and worse, Jack vomiting every thought, all the accusations he held inside him, all the self-induced poison; and Tooth, sweet, light Tooth, just stared, disturbingly shaken, at the horrid _darkness_ of it all.

“So who am I to live happily when the reason Em doesn’t live at all is me and my recklessness?” And in the middle of his cried outburst, he turned to the Moon, in rage and despair, and spits, this time out loud. “Who am I to live at _all_? So why in hell did you _save me_?”

Suddenly, _SMACK!_  

If standing on land, Jack would have stumbled back a couple of feet, not only by the force of the blow, but simply because of the cheer unexpectedness of the attack.

Milky palm flying to his reddening cheek, the boy fixated the mermaid before him, in disbelieving astonishment.

Toothiana was _fuming_ , like he had never seen her before, all fluttering fins and a fiery glint in her squinted orbs.

“Wha-”

“Don’t you ever _dare_ saying that again, Jackson Overland!” the mermaid screeched, in the most offended tone he had ever heard.

“Who are you to _live_? No! Who are _you_ to _deny_ the life that was _given_ to you?” she _roared_ , something that the boy didn’t believe to be possible. And as she spoke, more authoritarian and strong than ever, the shepherd could only shrink, just like a child behind scolded. “Who do you think you are, skulking by the corners, weeping at how miserable you are and how unfair fate was to you? Like a baby? Yes! Bad things do happen! Guess what? You have to _deal_ with them: _learn your lesson_ , _accept_ , and _move on_! Do you think it will do any good to Em, to you, to you family, to anyone really, for you to keep martyrizing yourself, dragging around in self-pity?” she gasped for just a fraction of second, enough to catch her breath, and charged again, unstoppable. The boy could only stare, wide eyed.

“If Emma was seeing you right now, she would be _ashamed_! Do you think your self-punishment will bring her any happiness, wherever she is? Do you think you are showing her respect, throwing your _own life_ away like that? This is not the brother she knew and loved! And I prefer to think that this is also not the joyful boy I came to love too!”  

Then, he kissed her.  


	17. Love? Yes, love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You wanted a kiss? Well, you made me write one! Happy?
> 
> Sorry for the long wait... Oh, I'm just done with my excuses! I'll just let you read.
> 
> (Please don't be mad at me for taking so long and writing so little. I have serious procrastination problems.)

__

 

XVII

She could say, that despite all odds, what she felt first was his scent. Yes, her eyes did stay open for the longest moments, all her tense and frozen in shock. But that big intake of air, the sudden gasp caused by the unexpectedness of it all, filled her nostrils with the most curious and unknown aromas. And after all this time, she had come to discover lots of wonderful things in the upper-world, but due to her limited position by the seashore, the subtle fragrance of a lot of things still remained a mystery to her. So, when the strong whiff brought the freshness of the fields and the sweetness of the flowers or the wonderful mix of pine-tree's needles and peppermint, Tooth had no way of indentifying it but as the most wonderful thing she had ever smelled. Not even the human food the boy once brought her, a long time ago, could beat the perfect balance of fresh sweetness the shepherd's natural odor had achieved. (And how the wilderness of the fields had clung to his person, even after so much time submerged in the freezing salty waters, would forever remain a mystery.)

In her shock induced paralysis, the little mermaid also took notice of a pair of huge palms clinging to her cheeks, and a strangely both soft and fierce pressure on her mouth. Through wide open irises, violet orbs flickering to understand, Toothiana could barely see his strongly shut lids, pale features contorted in something that almost resembled a pained expression.

But then, under a petit hand that she had unconsciously settled over the boy's bare chest, if only to maintain her balance after his swift gesture, Tooth felt the most erratic and wonderful rhythm she had ever experienced. Pounding loudly, clear and true under the mermaid's soft touch, Jack's heart sang a tune of the most alarmed delight. And that's when she realized, that the young shepherd was as shocked by his actions as she was.

And in her infinite innocence Toothiana had only been paying attention to the curiousness of this new form of social behavior, oblivious to its meaning. But suddenly, like a wave who hits you when you have your back turned to the sea, the amazing feeling of the human's pumping organ under her wide spread palm made her realize the intimacy of the situation. Her body immediately flashed a sudden wave of crimson, as she knew – even if she was still completely ignorant about most of the surface people's customs – that this one was certainly  _something more_.

But Jack seemed to be way ahead of her, and just when the first shades of pink started tinging the girl's cheeks, his own embarrassment appeared to simply wash away, all the awkwardness of a first kiss after weeks of tension subduing, as he got completely lost in the moment.

And as a long held breath left his nostrils, the most marvelous thing happened.

He softened...

All the previous tenseness seemed to go away with the long exhale, what was taut and nerve-wracking dissolving into the most peaceful of blisses.

Tooth felt his head tilt just the slightest, hands that were until now an almost bruising grip transforming into a gentle hold that caressed her petit face. What seemed to be his thumb travelled leisurely across her cheek, creating a lovely trail of warmth.

And then, like she hadn't even paid attention to it before, Tooth became abruptly aware of the tickling pressure in her lips, which became more tender every heartbeat that passed. (And if the boy was icy cold from so much time in the freezing waters, his chapped lips certainly weren't.)

So without really knowing what on Earth she was doing, but strangely knowing perfectly what to do at the same time, Tooth tilted her head the opposite direction, the frozen tip of her nose tickling softly the boy's icy cheek and becoming colder still. Both palms, firmly placed over his chest kept track of the galloping organ under his pale skin, running as madly as her own.

And it was with a timid uncertainty that the mermaid dared to lean a bit into him too, slightly pressing her closed mouth to his, with a flickering rainbow exploding across her quickly morphing hues, and almost every membrane in her body humming lightly.

And apparently, her gentle response was felt, because she could clearly feel his growing smirk under her own.  _Oh, that naughty human boy!_

It was his growing amusement that ended up breaking the spell.

She pulled away, face a mixture of bubbling happiness and pure confusion. Cerise orbs opened wide. And when her vision climbed up once again to his pale features, she verified that the shepherd's smirk was now gone, replaced by a both bashful and completely elated smile. And the mermaid had never seen the stars in his eyes twinkle as brightly as they did now.

His forehead fell gently towards hers, and they stayed like that for the longest time, both trying to keep that fizzy feeling in their chest for as long as they could, but still trying to comprehend the meaning of it all and what change would it bring to their strange relationship.

But like all things, the drowsing effect of the kiss washed away, slightly after. And as much as she loved being this close to the boy, a sore throat reminded Tooth why she was so angry with him in the first place.

The palms still flat on his chest became more useful. And before he knows it…

_SPLASH_!

Jackson Overland is on the water once again. But as the tide is already far, and the mermaid was kind enough to push him towards the shore, it is the less wet bath the boy had all night.

"What the…"

"Don't you  _ever_  say that again, Jack Frost!" her screeching voice lets through not only her anger at his attitude, but the absolute terror that the boy would even consider ending his life.

"I won't." he concedes, slowly rising again on both feet, approaching the mermaid with his hands before him, like she would just jump out of the water and knock him again. "I was just… angry…"

"Besides…" and his palms hold her heart-shaped face once again. "… I couldn't do it. Not anymore…"

And one would guess he was about to land a soft kiss on the half-girl's forehead, when he suddenly halted.

He stared of into the distance, face scrunching in thought for half a moment, when suddenly his eyes grew huge, a snapped back to the mermaid in front of him. And at his own unbelieving expression, Tooth's head tilted in confusion.

"Ja-"

"How did you know that word?"

And his voice was so excitedly, her cheeks practically squished by his hands, such was the enthusiasm, the Tooth almost felt sad by the prospect of not having the answers that could satisfy that eager twinkle in his irises.

"Word? What word?"

And the boy, who had seemed about to burst a moment ago, suddenly quieted down, as if nasty nagging thing called doubt had started corroding his fervor.

So when he spoke, a frown now crinkling his forehead, his voice come in an almost mute murmur, like he was afraid of her answer.

"You said…  _love._ "

And his confession seemed to catch the mermaid by surprise. Not because she didn't remember saying it, but because all the range of emotions displayed by the boy because of such simple word.

"I… I did…"

And at her answer the boy let go of the half-girl's cheeks, turning away from her, speaking, but more to himself than to the staring mermaid.

"But you don't know the meaning. You can't or you wouldn't say…" he stopped, and twirled back to her. "I've never used it, have I?"

The distressed way in which he asked that last sentence, confused Toothiana even further.  _Why was he reacting like this?_  But she answered him, nevertheless.

"Well… you said you  _loved_  the snow and the winter. And you  _loved_  your mother's roasted lamb, as much as you used to  _love_  Christmas or swimming in the ocean."

Jack seemed disappointed at her reply, the last trembling gleam of hope vanishing from his eyes, as his shoulders sagged visibly. With a force smile, the boy tried to conceal his pain after hurtfully realizing that the depths of his feelings for the bright Toothiana were much greater than the other way around.

"Oh… I see… I  _like you a lot_  too Tooth…"

What he didn't know, was that the mermaid wasn't over yet. So when a small hand landed on his shoulder, Jack turned to see the most tender and compassioned smile he had ever seen, a wise gleam in her eyes, as if she had just realized what troubled him.

"But you  _also_  said that you loved your family, and that you were sad because of your mother's own unhappiness. And part of you feels sad for breaking your father's expectations, and it hurts you to think that he doesn't love you as much as you love him."

Tooth continued, in spite of the widening eyes she received from the boy.

"And you love Em too, so deeply, that you think you won't ever love anyone as much as you did to her, if only not to have your heart ripped from you again. But above all, you love her so much, that in the end you were able of letting her go, and concede peace both to your soul and her memory."

The mermaid hand had found its way to Jack's pale cheek, softly catching with her thumb, a sparkling tear that freed itself from his shinny irises.

With a smile, Toothiana proceeded.

"And it's that love that you have inside you! I know what the word  _love_  is, because I have seen it in your eyes every time you remember your little sister and your times together! You wished nothing but her happiness… And that's exactly what I wish for you!

Her hands let go of him, and the boy had only to stare, with mouth slightly agape, eyes wide in order to absorb all her wonderful glory.

"So yes, I do  _love_  you Jackson Overland." she finished, with the most assured tone she had ever used. "And I have the perfect notion of every word I'm saying."

Needless to say, he kissed her again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am an horrible, lazy person, and this SHOULD'T make a chapter for its own. But as I said, I'm awfully lazy (and it serves as no excuse), but I felt sorry for the last chapters cliffhanger, so here you go guys, one chapter solely for kissing and confessions!
> 
> Am I pushing in the feels? Sometimes I think I exaggerate... Just consider that they are emotionally drained...
> 
> I you liked this little scene, or if you want to shout at me for taking so long for this ridiculous number of words, feel free to review!

**Author's Note:**

> Well, what did you think? If you can, please review, and if you have a piece of advice, feel free to give it!  
> I imagined Tooth to be able of changing her skin color, by shrinking and expanding pigments - like an octopus. You'll also see that in first drawings she has a pair of tentacles but I gave up on the concept.   
> Feel free to check out my drawings of her in the link given (and if you don't want spoilers of some sort, don't peek on the other ones!)


End file.
